Dumb Blond

Chapter 1

Author's Notes:  This story is loosely based on a plot bunny posted by lucel eons ago on Meredeth's fanfiction site.  I took many liberties with her suggestions, but that's where this story came from.  She suggested that Justin and Brian meet by leaving notes without knowing who each other is.
Beta by the lovely cheryltx.

*****

Brian Kinney pulled his Jeep into a parking spot near what used to be Meathook.  He was sorry to have seen that club go out of business.  Sometimes he had an itch, and Meathook had been the perfect place to get it scratched.

He undid his seatbelt and climbed out of the car.  He walked the short distance to the front of the old club.  He stood on the sidewalk staring up at the sign.  Club Emvic shone its neon light out onto the dark street.  Brian shook his head.  If he was choosing the name for the club, he would have chosen something that rolled more easily off the tongue.  But then, no one had asked him.

He walked up the three steps to the front door of the club and pushed the door to enter.  As soon as he crossed the threshold a burly man stepped in front of him.

“Twenty dollar cover charge,” the man said.

“I…”

Before Brian could say more, the man interrupted him.  “Twenty or out!”

“Fuck!” Brian muttered as he fished his wallet out of his pocket.  He handed the man a twenty dollar bill.  “Are the owners around?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’d like to speak with them.”

“Planning to report how rude I was?” the guy asked in a surly and somewhat threatening voice.

“I’m a … friend,” Brian said.

“Just a minute,” the man replied giving Brian the once over.  He walked behind the desk that Brian assumed he occupied as he waited for patrons to arrive.  The man picked up the phone and spoke into it.  “They’ll be down in a minute,” he said when he set the receiver back on the base.  “Wait here.”

Brian looked around the foyer.  There was lots of red that stood out from the black walls.  Banquettes covered in rich red velvet lined the walls.  It made Brian think of a nineteenth century brothel from some cheap Western novel.  He smiled at the thought.  But this was definitely a different kind of place from the brothels that had flitted into Brian’s brain – much different.

Brian could hear music coming from inside the club – some kind of bump and grind that sounded vaguely familiar.  The foyer area where he waited was divided off from the rest of the club by a curtain made of wide strips of red velvet alternating with hanging chains.  Brian smiled again.  That was kind of a nice touch – soft and hard, warm and cold – heightened the senses.  He liked that.

A door opened at one side of the foyer.  Brian turned as movement caught the corner of his eye.

“Well, look who finally deigned to honor us with his presence,” Emmett said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“I only came because you kept leaving me messages demanding that I come see your new enterprise,” Brian snarked.

“You might have come to the opening,” Vic said, his voice soft with disappointment.

“Hey, Vic,” Brian said suddenly feeling rather sheepish.  “Something came up that night.”

“I’m sure,” Vic responded sardonically.  He couldn’t help but resent the fact that Brian wouldn’t make the effort to come to the opening of this new club that he and Emmett had poured so much time, effort and money into.  He had thought Brian would behave better than that.

“I guess I wanted to make sure it lasted more than one night,” Brian said trying to make a joke.  “I wouldn’t want to be associated with a failure.”  Brian immediately regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.

“Thanks buckets,” Emmett said resentfully.  “We’ve actually managed to survive without your patronage.”  He glared at Brian.

“Well I’m here now.  So do I get a tour?”

“I suppose we could manage to give you a quick look see,” Emmett replied rather ungraciously.

“If you want me to leave, I’ll happily go,” Brian said, feeling nothing but hostility from his two friends.  He had meant to come to the opening, but he had found a trick that he took home and fucked for most of the night.  He had forgotten all about the club, the guy had been that good.  Now it seemed that he had really hurt his friends.

“You’re here, so why don’t we show you around,” Vic conceded.  He looked at Emmett for confirmation that he was in agreement.  Emmett nodded his head.

Just then the front door of the club opened and two men walked in.  They looked like typical middle class businessmen or salesmen.  The man behind the desk sprang into action once again.

“There’s a twenty dollar cover charge,” he said, “each!”

“Okay, okay,” one of the men said getting out his wallet.  He handed the man forty bucks.

Brian shook his head.  He’d have to mention to Vic and Emmett that they needed to instruct their bouncer to be a little more welcoming and polite with the clientele.  A lot of customers would never return when they were treated so brusquely the first time they entered the new club.

“May I show you in?” Emmett said extending his hand to the men.  “I’m Emmett Honeycutt, one of the owners.”

“At least somebody has some manners,” the man who had paid the forty bucks said.

Brian felt the other man’s eyes moving over his body.

“You dancing here, handsome?” the other man asked Brian with a coy smile.

Brian laughed.  “Not tonight.”

“Let me know what night you’re working and I’ll be sure to come back … for your performance.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to check my schedule,” Brian said.

“Right this way, gentlemen,” Emmett said sweeping the velvet and chain divider aside to admit his customers to the main part of the club.

“You’re incorrigible,” Vic whispered to Brian as they followed Emmett and the men into the club.

“Just having a little fun,” Brian said with a smirk.

“You could probably make a fortune dancing here, if those guys are any indication,” Vic pointed out.

“You’ve seen me dance…”

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Vic chuckled.

“What the hell made you and Emmett buy this exotic dance emporium?” Brian asked.

“It seemed like a good idea.”

Brian shook his head.  “I just don’t get it.”

“Look around, Brian,” Vic merely replied.

Brian surveyed the main part of the club.  A semi-circular stage was dimly lit with spotlights at the far end of the room.  A young man was grinding against a pole, while several of the men seated at the tables ringing the stage watched intently.  There were lots more tables around the room.  They were all empty.  That was not a good thing on a Friday night.

The guy on the stage had removed his shirt or whatever had covered his upper body.  Fabric in a heap at one side of the stage indicated what had become of that part of his costume.  He was rubbing his hand suggestively up and down his thighs.  As Brian watched, the man’s hands moved to the insides of his thighs, brushing against a bulge in the flimsy workout pants that covered his lower body.

“He could use a more sophisticated costume,” Brian observed as he watched the gyrations.

“A lot of the guys are still working out their acts,” Vic explained.

Brian shrugged.  Emmett came hustling over to them, having seated the two men who came in after Brian at one of the tables near the stage.

“How’s business?” Brian asked.

“It’s … been okay.”

“Is that so?”

“Brian,” Emmett said, “we’ve had some start up problems, but we’re getting by.”

“Getting by is never good enough in business.”

“What do you mean?”

“You need to be making a profit or you’ll be under water in a few months.”

“Thanks for your cheery views,” Emmett said with a grimace.

“He’s right, Emm,” Vic said.  “We haven’t been doing the volume of business that we had hoped for after the opening.”

The dancer on the stage finished his act by pulling off the g-string that had been holding his cock in place during the last minute or two of his act.  What he revealed was nothing to write home about, Brian thought.

The small audience didn’t seem to care about the size of the dancer’s appendage, giving the guy a nice round of applause, before he ran offstage.

“Well, that was … interesting,” Brian stated not at all impressed.

“He’s just a warm up act,” Vic explained.

“Then that’s part of your problem,” Brian said.  “I don’t feel warmed up at all.”

“We have a couple of guys you haven’t seen yet.  I think you’ll like them,” Emmett said defensively.

“I can hardly wait,” Brian replied sarcastically.

Vic frowned and looked worried as he listened to Brian’s words.  He was very concerned that the business might fail just like Brian had said.  He had sunk everything he had into this club.  It needed to succeed.

“Our next star is Adam Adonis,” Emmett stated indicating the man who had just taken the stage.

“He’s your star attraction?” Brian asked with obvious disdain.

“No, not the star, but he has one humungous cock,” Emmett averred.

“Maybe I’ll stay long enough to see that,” Brian smirked.  “He might be worth a few minutes of my time.”  Brian watched the not overly attractive man start to take off his clothes.  He had a well defined body that he obviously worked on.  It would be a good thing if he had a spectacular cock because the rest of his act left quite a bit to be desired.  His face was rather homely, and he certainly was no dancer, even by Brian’s standards.  A big dick would be the only thing that would make such an act worthwhile.

Brian, Emmett and Vic moved over to the bar where they each got a drink.

“Want to sit down?” Emmett asked.  “The next act is our big attraction.”

“What’s so special about him?”

The three men walked to the owner’s booth which was an elevated area off to the side of the stage.  There was a half moon table with a red velvet bench behind it.  They all slid in and sat watching the stage while sipping their drinks.

Brian looked at Vic and Emmett who were watching the act on the stage, but also gauging the reaction of the audience.  For the first time it really struck Brian that a lot was riding on this business for his friends.  They had probably invested every cent they had, and more.  If the business failed, they would be in major trouble.

Brian looked over at the stage where the current act was just about to remove the last vestige of his clothing.  Brian hoped for Vic and Emmett’s sake that the guy’s dick was as impressive as he had been led to believe.

The man on the stage was down to a pair of shiny black bikini briefs that were hardly big enough to encase the massive dick they strained to cover.  The man turned his back on the audience wiggling his butt suggestively as he ever so slowly slid the briefs down.  As the silky fabric passed over the man’s ass, everyone could see the tip of his cock hanging low between his legs.  There was a sharp intake of breath from the audience.

Then the man turned with deliberate slowness.  As he did so, his semi-erect cock came clearly into view.  It had to be more than ten inches and very thick.  Brian gave a shudder at the thought of that thing up someone’s ass.

With a deep bow the man ran offstage with his huge dick swinging in the breeze.  There was a good round of applause for the end of his act.

“Not bad, huh?” Emmett said to Brian.

“A big cock isn’t all that’s required to make good entertainment,” Brian replied.

“In this place it is.”

“That guy is no Zack O’Toole.”

“Who is?” Emmett asked fanning himself.

Vic laughed.  “He may not be Zack O’Toole but he’s a crowd pleaser.”

Brian nodded.  “I could use another drink if I’m hanging around for your star attraction.”

“We always have a little break here, so we can sell some more drinks,” Emmett said with a sly wink.  “It also builds suspense before our star appears.”

“Very clever,” Brian said.

“I’ll get us some more drinks.” Emmett slid out of the booth.  “More of the same?”

Brian and Vic nodded.

“So, how have you been lately?” Vic asked.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“Like everyone doesn’t.”

“You mean Deb?” Brian asked.

“Yeah, that sister of mine tends to … hover.”

“Don’t you mean smother?”

“That could describe it,” Vic agreed with a chuckle.  “So, anything new with you?”

Brian shook his head.  “Kinnetik is doing well.  I landed a big advertising campaign for Remson Pharmaceuticals recently.”

“That must be lucrative.”  Brian nodded.  “But I was thinking more about your personal life.”

“I don’t have a personal life, and that’s just the way I like it,” Brian affirmed.

“Nobody’s happier alone,” Vic said with sympathy as he looked into Brian’s eyes.

Brian looked away, afraid of revealing too much.  “I’m fine, Vic.”

“You need to find someone.  You’re not getting any younger.”

“If this is a pep talk, you’re not doing much of a job,” Brian said bitterly.  Vic’s last remark had struck home.  That had been something Brian had been thinking about lately.  He didn’t want to become one of those over the hill club boys that everyone made fun of at Babylon.

Emmett returned with drinks rescuing Brian from further discussion of his personal future.  That was not a topic he chose to speak about with anyone.  If he could forget about it altogether, that would make him happy.  But life went on, and age progressed no matter how hard you fought it.

“This star attraction of yours, what’s he like?” Brian asked hoping to direct the conversation into safer channels.

“You’ll see for yourself in just a minute or two,” Emmett said as he sat back down in the booth.

“What’s his name?” Brian asked.

“Um…” Emmett said.

Vic gave his partner a look.  “Our star should be right out.  Why don’t we wait to discuss him until you’ve seen his act?”

“That’s his music,” Emmett said with a grin, as High School Confidential started to play.  “See for yourself.”

And then there he was!

Dumb Blond

Chapter 2




Brian felt his groin tighten and his cock jump as the young blond man moved onto the stage.  The dancer was not very tall, with pale skin, and a slender build.  But that wasn’t what Brian noticed.  It was the smile that he flashed at the audience, fleeting but warm.  It made him glow with the promise of much more to come.

The blond boy was dressed like some weird type of cowboy with a fake Stetson-like hat and cowboy boots that seemed too big for his feet.  The rest of his costume, if it could even be called a costume, looked pretty much like a teenager’s street clothes with little or no attempt to carry on the cowboy theme, other than the plaid shirt that hung loose above a pair of dark denim jeans.

High School Confidential belted out from speakers that were hidden somewhere behind or above the stage.  There was a sudden silence from the audience, as everyone’s attention seemed to be pulled to the man on the stage.  Even above the loud music the lack of other noise was palpable.  Everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen, something different or strange or important.  All Brian could see was the blond boy in front of him.  And all he could hear besides the music was a loud pounding in his ears.

Brian didn’t know how long he was lost in the trance that the young man wove, but he was pulled from it by a persistent repetition of his name.

“Brian…Brian…Brian!”  By the last repetition of his name, Emmett was practically shouting at him.

“Yeah.”

“You like what you see?” Emmett asked with his toothy grin.

“He’s okay,” Brian said when he could force his voice to work.

“He’s better than okay,” Emmett averred.

“How old is he?” Brian asked as he began to regain his composure.  His eyes never left the stage where the young man was gyrating his hips suggestively.  Brian silently prayed that the kid was at least eighteen, because Brian realized something, something that he would rather not admit.  He wanted the blond boy with every fiber of his being.

“Nineteen,” Emmett stated.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure; he filled out all the required paperwork.  He couldn’t work here if he was under eighteen,” Emmett explained.

“But the fact that he looks about fifteen is part of his attraction,” Vic added quietly noting Brian’s intent interest in what was on the stage.  That had not been the case when the other acts had been out there.

“Barely fifteen,” Brian muttered.  Normally he wouldn’t look at a teenager.  He wasn’t into chicken.  He liked men who knew what they wanted, knew what the score was and what they were getting into.  This kid was different … somehow.  There was something sweet … and seductive about this boy.  ‘And I don’t do sweet,’ Brian reminded himself.  Seductive was another story.  Brian gave himself a shake.  What the fuck was he thinking?

The boy had removed his shirt and tossed in toward the back of the stage.  His bare chest was defined but not overly muscular.  He was slim and slight of build.  Brian studied the bare chest, realizing that the blond was an enigmatic combination of boy and man.  Maybe that was what was so appealing.  Brian realized he wanted to know more about this young man.

Next the blond kicked off his cowboy boots which had seemed much too big for his feet, and must have been since they flew off so easily.  For the next couple of minutes the blond ground himself against the pole in the center of the stage.  The audience really enjoyed that by their collective reaction.  Then, leaping up, the young man/boy spun around the pole, landing back on his feet very adroitly.  He offered another smile when the audience again showed its approval of that move.

Then unexpectedly he turned his back to his audience and shook his nicely rounded butt at them.  That drew a huge round of applause.  The bubble butt was quite appealing.  Every man in the place seemed to think so, including Brian Kinney.  Brian smiled to himself.  This kid knew how to showcase his assets.

The next thing Brian knew, the kid’s jeans were slowly sliding down over that wonderful ass.  Brian watched in fascination expecting there to be some sort of thong or g-string underneath.  To his surprise, the boy was wearing white cotton underpants like you could buy at the fucking Big Q.

And what was more surprising, those white undies were damn intoxicating.  It seemed like Brian, and the whole audience, were holding their collective breaths as the jeans slid down and then disappeared.  The blond tossed them towards the back of the stage with his boots and shirt.

Brian did a double take as the boy turned and faced his audience.  He stood there tall and proud for just a moment.  He seemed not at all embarrassed by the suggestive moves he had just been making.  Brian liked that the blond seemed proud of his craft, and it was a craft the way the boy was doing it.  His demeanor was almost noble.

Running the palms of his hands over his nipples and down to the top of his underwear, the young man smiled again.  He seemed to be enjoying himself, and as a result, so was his audience.  He repeated these movements several times, making his nipples harden and darken.  Each time he slid his hands over his nipples, he chose some man in the audience to lock eyes with.  It was like a silent invitation to something more.

Brian tried his best not to gasp when the blond’s eyes locked onto his.  As much as he would have liked to assert his authority and independence by turning away, Brian found that he could not.  He stared back entranced.

Then the boy broke the link by turning around once again.  Brian felt a sudden loss, like something he coveted had been taken away.  He shook his head to break the spell.  This was too fucking strange for words.  He blinked – hard – a few times, as if that might clear his vision, and his brain, and his … fantasies.

When he looked up, the blond was again showing that delectable ass, but this time he was slowly sliding the white cotton fabric down over his ass cheeks.  Each fraction of an inch that it moved revealed more of the creamy skin beneath.  Brian realized he was holding his breath as the boy’s ass crack was gradually revealed.

And then the white cotton undies were sliding swiftly down the boy’s legs and being kicked to the back of the stage.  Just as before the blond turned, stood proud and tall, revealing that he was a true blond who possessed a nicely shaped and rather impressive cock for someone his size.

It was a mere moment that the boy stood there in all his naked glory, but it was as if time stood still for Brian, for everyone.  And then suddenly, after a last warm smile, the dancer was gone.  The stage was empty.  The music had stopped.  A collective sigh could be heard throughout the room.  Then the audience burst into applause, standing and hooting their approval, trying to call the young man back for another look.  This continued for a couple of minutes, before it became clear that there would be no second look.

“No encore?” Brian asked.

“Nope,” was Emmett’s terse answer.  “Always leave them wanting more – the first rule of performing.”

“He certainly had his audience mesmerized,” Brian observed.

“He does that every performance,” Vic noted.

“Yeah,” Emmett agreed.  “He weaves a real spell over the audience while he’s out there.  That’s what makes him a star.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, he’s … something special,” Emmett added.

“Does he have a name?” Brian asked, not sure why he verbalized that question, but he knew deep inside that he wanted to know.

“He calls himself ‘Dumb Blond’,” Emmett explained.

“And is he?” Brian asked.

“Is he what?”

“Dumb!  I could certainly see that he was blond.”

“So could everyone else,” Vic chuckled.

“So, is he dumb?” Brian asked.

“I guess that would depend on how you define that word,” Emmett replied.

“I didn’t come here to parse words with you,” Brian said.

“He chose the name he goes by,” was Emmett’s enigmatic reply.

“He must have an actual name,” Brian said.

“Of course he does.”  Brian raised an eyebrow waiting for Emmett to tell him what that name might be.  “He chooses not to have that become common knowledge,” Emmett said to explain his refusal to divulge the boy’s name.

“So you’re not going to tell me?”

“No, I’m not.  I promised the boy I wouldn’t.”

“Fine.”

“Fine?” Emmett asked, knowing that Brian Kinney didn’t like to be thwarted.

“I need a drink,” Brian said shoving Emmett over so he could slide out of the booth.  He walked over to the bar to get his own drink, not prepared to wait for further service from Emmett at the table.

“My, my, my!” Emmett said as soon as Brian was out of earshot.

Vic laughed.  “He was certainly interested in our little blond.”

“Oh my, yes.”

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it,” Vic said with a frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“I hope Brian doesn’t take it upon himself to go after our ‘dumb blond’,” Vic explained.  “Brian has a way of getting what he wants.”

“I don’t think that will happen in this case,” Emmett said.  But Vic’s comment made him wonder.  Usually Brian Kinney didn’t have to go after anybody.  They came after him, and most of the time he had to beat them off with a stick.  Either that or take them home and fuck them, before he discarded them.  He did a lot of that too.

Emmett and Vic headed towards the bar where Brian now stood drinking what looked like vodka.  Both of them were wondering what was going through Brian Kinney’s head.  One never knew, and sometimes it was better that one didn’t.

Before they reached the bar, Vic touched Emmett’s arm, and nodded his head in the direction of the velvet and chain curtain leading to the lobby.  The ‘dumb blond’ was standing there motioning to them.

“He probably wants his paycheck,” Emmett whispered to Vic.  “Keep Brian occupied while I take care of it.”

Vic heaved a sigh.  “I’ll try,” he said.  He walked towards the bar while Emmett hurried to the lobby.

Brian turned just before Vic came to meet him.  Brian caught a glimpse of Emmett and a blond disappearing through the velvet curtain.  His eyes narrowed.

“Brian, another drink?” Vic asked trying to sound nonchalant.

“Why all the mystery about this blond kid?” Brian asked cutting right to the chase.  He didn’t need another drink.  There was something else he was after.

“He’s young and … new at this,” Vic said as if that explained everything.

“He fucking knew what he was doing on that stage,” Brian exclaimed.

“Naturally talented,” Vic replied.

“So, who is he, Vic?”

“I can’t say.”

“You mean you won’t say.”

“All right, I won’t say.  That’s the way he wants it,” Vic stated.

“And a very good night to you then, old friend,” Brian said trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum, while giving Vic’s shoulder a squeeze.  Vic had always been a good friend to Brian, even if he wouldn’t provide the information Brian now wanted.  “I’m done here,” Brian said and headed for the lobby.

“Brian…” Vic called after him, but Brian kept on going.

Brian pushed the velvet and chains aside and walked into the lobby half expecting to see the blond standing there.

No such luck.

Brian glanced around, but apparently Emmett, and maybe the blond, had disappeared into some inner sanctum.  For a fleeting second, Brian contemplated asking the bouncer about the young man, or trying to get into Emmett’s office, but one glimpse of the belligerent looking gent behind the desk told Brian that would be fruitless.  The bouncer wasn’t interested in anything but his job, and Brian had not made matters better by the way he had treated the guy earlier.

After a minute or two of indecision Brian walked out the front door of Club Emvic.  He was about to head for his car, when another thought struck him.  Club Emvic was located on a corner beside a narrow alley.  ‘Convenient for fucking,’ Brian thought with a small lift of one corner of his mouth, as he looked into the alley.  He imagined that some of the dancers wouldn’t object to a little extra money from a quick blowjob or fuck in that alley.  He had to wonder about the blond boy.  Would he be part of such a thing?

Brian walked a couple of feet into the alley.  All was darkness and emptiness.  He stepped further into the alley, just far enough to be out of sight to any casual observer that might be passing by.  Brian lit a cigarette while he waited.  He took a long drag on it.  He’d give this … adventure five minutes – max.

He didn’t have to wait that long.  Suddenly a figure walked past the alley, a figure with blond hair.

Brian stepped out of the shadows, immediately recognizing the slender form of the exotic dancer he had been waiting for.  He tossed his cigarette aside and hastened to catch up to the boy who was walking purposefully down the street.

“Excuse me,” Brian said as politely as he could.  Brian wondered why he was being polite.  Usually he would use one of his patented lines, and he and his prey would be in the Jeep heading to his loft.  Or fucking in that damn alley.  But this seemed different somehow.

The blond turned quickly and his eyes grew large.  His mouth opened but no sound came out.

“I … I enjoyed your performance … in the club … very much,” Brian said hesitantly.  He hoped he was making the young man feel more at ease.  He could see surprise and what looked like fear in the boy’s eyes.  “I didn’t mean to startle you; I just wanted to tell you that you were the best dancer in there.”  Brian cocked his head toward the club entrance.  He felt the blond relax a bit at his words.  A small smile played on the full lips.  “I wondered if you’d like to have a drink with me,” Brian added.

‘Where the fuck did that come from?’ Brian wondered.  It sounded like he was asking for a date, and Brian Kinney didn’t do dates.

The blond looked … hopeful for a split second, then the fear returned to his eyes.  He shook his head vehemently indicating that he wanted no part of a drink or of Brian.

“I don’t know your name … or anything,” Brian persisted.

The blond merely shrugged.

“I was curious why you call yourself ‘Dumb Blond’,” Brian continued.  He wasn’t much good at making small talk, but he wasn’t ready to have the blond disappear just yet.  And he really wanted an answer to that question.

The boy shook his head and made to walk away.  Without thinking Brian stuck his arm out to block the escape.  The look of terror on the boy’s face made Brian draw his arm away.  He meant no harm to the lad, and he wanted him to know that.

Just then a bus rounded the corner and pulled to a stop at a pickup spot up the street.  The blond gave Brian a quick look before he raced down the street and hopped on the bus.

Brian watched in silence while the young man found a seat on the bus, and then looked out at him from the window of the bus, as the vehicle passed the spot where Brian was still standing.

“Fuck,” Brian muttered.  That had not gone well.  Then he shrugged as he watched the bus recede from view.  He turned and walked slowly to his car.

He climbed into the driver’s seat and sat there for a minute.  He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag on it.  He couldn’t remember what had happened to the other cigarette he had lit a few minutes earlier in the alley.  Brian realized that time had a way of scrambling, of stopping or turning upside down, when he looked into the deep blue eyes of the blond exotic dancer.

Brian slowly shook his head.  Time was all mixed up.  He wasn’t sure how long he had been in the alley.  Had he smoked the whole cigarette?  How long had he actually talked to the blond?

Then it struck him, that he had done all the talking.  The blond had not spoken a word.  Could that be the true meaning of ‘Dumb Blond’?  Was the boy unable to speak?  He seemed to be able to hear what Brian had said, or was he lip reading?  No, Brian thought, the boy had heard him when he caught up to him.  He was sure of that.  So, if he wasn’t deaf, why couldn’t he speak?

This must have been what Emmett had meant when he had said that it depended on the definition of ‘dumb’.  The boy certainly wasn’t stupid, as in the other definition of dumb.  He knew how to use his body and his masculine wiles to play an audience.  He had been a master at what he was doing.  The audience had been transfixed.  Hell, Brian had been transfixed by the performance.

The boy used no makeup or costumes to speak of, yet he was by far the most beautiful and appealing dancer of the evening.  Brian would bet that every man in the place had a hard-on by the time the blond’s act was over.  Brian had one after the first two seconds the kid was on stage.

Brian took another long puff on his cigarette before tossing it out the window of the Jeep.  He needed to forget this blond kid … or find out more about him.  He wasn’t at all sure which it would be.

However, he would have to do something.  He was horny as hell after watching the performance in the club.  If he couldn’t have the blond, he would find someone else.

Brian started the Jeep and headed for Babylon.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 3





Justin Taylor leaned his head against the cool glass of the bus window.  His stomach bubbled and churned.  He wasn’t hungry.  He was upset.

Who was that guy, the one who had accosted him on the street?  The man had the most amazing green eyes, and that nose – aquiline was the right word he thought.  Yes, he was sure that was the word.  And his mouth.  Man, he had so wanted to kiss that mouth.  But that would never happen, especially since he had effectively run away from the guy.  Besides Justin was simply too scared to get that close to someone or ever do something like that.  He closed his eyes and let his mind wander.

Justin had been aware of that man in the club.  He had felt the man’s eyes on him during his performance.  The connection had been palpable.  He had even locked eyes with the guy at one point, and he had been … overcome by feelings.  That had never happened to Justin before, certainly not since he had been performing at Club Emvic.  The audience was just that – an audience.  He had never had any feelings about them, until tonight.

The men who came to Club Emvic were voyeurs for the most part.  Justin was happy to let them look, but nobody was going to touch.  He had told Emmett and Vic that, before they hired him.  Justin knew that some of the dancers were available for other activities after their performances, but Justin would never be.  He had made that very clear to his employers.  They had seemed fine with his stipulations, even telling him that they did not condone what some of the other dancers chose to do, but they did not interfere with their dancers supplementing their income by whatever means they chose.  Justin had been okay with that, as long as he was not required to follow suit.

Following his successful audition and some genuine interest shown by his potential employers, Justin had told Emmett and Vic a little bit about his circumstances, and they had agreed to protect him, to keep his secrets, to employ him on the terms that he asked for.  There weren’t many places that would do that, so Justin had been relieved.  He thought he could work at Club Emvic, and he certainly needed the money.

Justin sighed heavily and closed his eyes.  His life was a fucking mess.  He missed his family … so much.  It was hard being on his own with no one to help him.  Justin drew in a deep breath and fought back tears.  There was no point in wallowing.  He had done that at the beginning, but it had got him nowhere.  He had chosen to be where he was now, so that was where he would have to stay.  There was no going back.

Thinking about how he had become “The Dumb Blond” made Justin smile, in spite of his depressing thoughts.  It had almost been like salvation when he had seen the ad in a gay newspaper he had been glancing through at a coffee shop on Liberty Avenue.  The ad was for auditions for exotic dancers at a new gay club that was opening.  It was called Club Emvic.

Justin had thought the name of the club was kind of stupid.  It should have been something more flamboyant … like Club Bang or Club Brilliant, or maybe something classic like Club Baroque or maybe just one word … like … Flash.

Justin had thought long and hard about whether he should audition or not.  He had never done anything like that before, but he did love to dance, and people had told him he was good at it.  He and his best friend Daphne used to dance together in his bedroom or hers.  They had fun practicing their moves, but Justin knew this would be a different kind of dancing.  He wasn’t sure he’d be any good at exotic dancing, but he didn’t see how it could be so different from regular dancing, except for the part where he took his clothes off.

Another small smile passed over Justin’s face.  He thought back to the couple of days before the audition.  He had spent all of his spare time, which wasn’t much, listening to music to choose something to dance to.  He had finally decided on High School Confidential.  It was an old song, but he liked the pounding beat.  He thought he could dance to it.

Then it occurred to him that he should really build on the high school theme.  Everyone thought he looked so young, and he had heard that a lot of gay men liked them young.  Nobody seemed to want to get old in the gay community.  But then nobody wanted to get old no matter what community they belonged to.  Justin shuddered at the thought.

Once he had decided on the music he would use, Justin had pulled out his old St. James uniform from his meager closet.  He had to wonder why he was keeping such a thing from his high school years.  The blazer was a symbol of his old life, the one that no longer existed.  He wasn’t a high school student anymore, never would be again.  And the uniform reminded him of other unpleasant thoughts.  After some deliberation, Justin decided that there was no way he could wear it.

Suddenly he had had the greatest urge to get rid of it.  It would be like getting rid of his old life and all that it represented.  As a result he had stuffed the blazer into a plastic bag from the Big Q and shoved it down the garbage chute in the rickety old apartment building where he lived.  He did it before he gave himself a chance to change his mind.  He just wanted it done.  That phase of his life was over.  He would never wear that uniform again, and furthermore he didn’t want it around to remind him of everything he had lost.

Having made the decision not to go with the school uniform as his costume, Justin had to come up with something else.  He had been walking past a secondhand shop the next day when he saw a cowboy hat in the window.  Well, it was more like a cartoon cowboy hat, but it looked young.  And young was the look Justin had decided to go for.  He went in and tried it on.  When he got home with the cowboy hat, which had cost him all of two bucks, he tried it out with all of his shirts and jeans.  That was a total of four combinations he had been able to make.  Finally he had decided that his plaid shirt looked best with the hat, and that was the outfit he wore to his audition.  He still wore the same outfit to perform.

At the audition was when he had met Emmett and Vic.  He immediately understood the name for the club, and he liked both men right from the outset.  Neither of them was at all what he had expected.  In fact, Justin hadn’t been sure what he would find when he went to the club.  He had heard lots of stories about sleazy clubs and even sleazier men who ran them.  He decided if that was what he found when he got to Club Emvic then he could just walk out of the place.  Nothing said he had to stay.  Nothing said he had to go through with the audition.  He told himself to give the club and exotic dancing a chance.  He could use some more money, and this potentially was a way to get some.  But if he didn’t like the place, he didn’t have to stay.  He would find some other way to make ends meet.

When the music had started at the audition, Justin had been petrified.  He wondered what the fuck he was doing there.  But he had made up a routine and he was determined to go through with it.  He had danced to the best of his ability, shaking his booty and trying to be seductive as he stripped off his clothes.  He thought he had done okay, but he didn’t like the looks on the faces of the two men when he was finished.

“We’re really looking for someone who will take everything off,” Emmett had said.  Vic nodded in agreement.

Justin had blanched when he heard that.  Going down to his underwear was one thing, but revealing it all was something quite different.  Justin had shaken his head and was prepared to walk out.  He started to gather up his discarded clothes, putting on his jeans as quickly as he could.

Then Emmett had stopped him by saying something that had changed Justin’s way of looking at this whole enterprise.  In fact it had probably changed his whole life.

“Wait just a minute,” Emmett had said to him.  Justin had hesitated as he slipped his plaid shirt back on, knowing that he probably should just get out of there while the going was good.  “Come over to the bar and let’s have a drink.  There are a few things I’d like to tell you.”

Hesitantly Justin had nodded and followed the two men to the bar.  He supposed it couldn’t hurt to hear what they had to say, and a drink was a drink.  He didn’t have money for alcohol most of the time.  They all sat down on the bar stools.  Justin asked for a beer, thinking that would be a safe thing to have, and then he waited for whatever supposed words of wisdom these men wanted to impart to him.  To say he was skeptical would be putting it very mildly.

“I came to Pittsburgh from a bigoted little town in Mississippi,” Emmett began.  Justin had looked at the man wondering what that had to do with the price of beans.  “I used to get harassed and picked on all the time.  I was the town fairy, you see.”

Justin had smiled at that comment.

“I even had lit matches thrown at me.”

Justin cringed when he heard that.

“But I refused to let them get me down.  I left that ugly place of no hope as soon as I could,” Emmett explained.  “And I made a promise to myself when I did.”

Justin raised an eyebrow and waited.  This promise must be what Emmett had wanted to tell him.

“I promised that I would never deny who I am.  I would be proud of being the town fairy.  I would be proud of what I did and who I would become.  I’ve lived my life that way ever since, and here I am, the owner of a club.”  Emmett had smiled his toothy grin.

Justin found himself smiling back at the man.  He wondered if he could ever live his life with pride.  He knew he wanted to, but life had not been kind to him.

“So, why am I telling you this?” Emmett asked Justin.

Justin shrugged and took another sip of his beer.

“Emmett’s lesson is a good life lesson,” Vic said with his kindly smile.  “He’s trying to tell you that you should be proud of your dance, proud of your body, proud of who you are.”

“Oh, Vic, you took the words right out of my mouth,” Emmett said giving the older man a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Justin watched them wishing he had a friendship like that.

“So, what I would like you to do,” Emmett said, “is get back on that stage, do your routine again, and be proud of every moment of it, including taking everything off if that’s what you decide to do.”

Justin had stared at the tall, proud man.  He wondered if he could ever have Emmett’s philosophy in life.  It was how he would like to live his life, but could he…?

“So, what’s it going to be, young man?” Vic asked.  “Are you going to get back on that stage, or are you ready to give up?”

Justin frowned and thought about what he wanted in life.  He didn’t want to work as an exotic dancer, but he needed the money … a lot.  If he was going to do this, he would do it with pride.  He would make his performance something to be proud of.

With no other answer, Justin slid off the barstool and headed for the stage.  He pushed the play button on the boom box that they were using for auditions.  High School Confidential started and Justin began moving his hips in the most sensuous way that he could.  Now that he knew there was a pole on the stage he decided to use it.  He made a tentative whirl around the pole, then did it more quickly spinning with his feet off the floor.  He heard Emmett squeal and clap.  That made him smile and he looked out at the two men … proudly.

And that was how Justin had become an exotic dancer known as The Dumb Blond.

Justin glanced out into the street.  Rehashing his memories and the gentle sway of the bus had lulled him into a stupor.  He realized he had missed his stop.  He pulled the cord and waited for the next stop.  As soon as the bus halted, Justin jumped out and started running back the way the bus had come.  It was several blocks and he was out of breath as he entered the alley that led to his destination.

He took note of the lone van that was parked in the area in front of the old building.  He was glad to see it there.  At this time of night being in an alley by himself wasn’t a particularly good idea, even in this part of town.

Justin ran up to the door of the building and tried to yank it open.  It was locked.  Momentary panic set in as Justin looked around hoping that he wouldn’t see anyone.  His wish was fulfilled; the alley was empty.  However, that still didn’t get him into the building.

Justin made a fist and started pounding on the heavy glass door to the building.  At first there was no response.  Justin looked around nervously and pounded harder.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” a voice called from inside.

Justin breathed a sigh of relief.  The door opened and he stepped inside.

“You’re late,” the man said.

“I missed my stop on the bus,” Justin replied.  “I had to run back several blocks.”

“You need to be on time,” the man chastised.  “I waited for you outside for a while, but I have work to do.  So do you.  I might not have heard you knock if I was way in the back or if I had the floor polisher going.”

“I’m really sorry, Joe,” Justin told the big black man.  “I was thinking about something on the bus, and the next thing I knew I was past my stop.”

“Enough said,” Joe replied.  “Take this bin and empty all the wastebaskets.”

Justin nodded and started to push the large garbage can on wheels towards the back of the building.

“Did I lock that door after you came in?” Joe asked with a frown.

Justin shrugged.  Joe gave him a look and went to check the door.  Justin headed down the hall.  He had been here many times before with Joe.  This job had kept him going when he thought he was going to have to give up.  Joe was a big bear of a man, but he had the kindest heart.

When Justin had applied for the job of late night office cleaner, Joe had been a little skeptical.  Justin could tell by the look on the man’s face that he didn’t think Justin was up to the job.

“I’m stronger than I look,” Justin had averred.

“There’s not a lot of heavy lifting in janitorial work,” Joe had said.

“Then why do you look like you think I can’t do the job?”

“We start at midnight and work till three.  Are you up for those hours?”

“I go to school during the day, so that will work for me,” Justin had explained.

“I have another guy who works with me, but I need someone for three nights a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights.”

“I can do that.”

“Are you sure?  I need someone reliable.  No shitting around.  And I expect you to work while we’re on the job.  No goofing off.”

“I’ll work hard,” Justin had promised.

“I don’t know,” Joe had said scratching at his chin.  “Young people these days just aren’t … reliable.”

“I am!”

Joe had stared at Justin for a good minute.  “Okay, we’ll give it a try, but if you don’t hold up your end of things, you’re out.”

“Fair enough,” Justin had agreed.

And here he was – a janitor.

And that was okay with Justin.  It was honest work, work that Justin could be proud of, as Emmett had said.  And it helped him pay his tuition and his rent.  Helped, but didn’t quite cut it.  That was why he had been looking for another job.  It was tough to find something that would fit into the limited time he had in his busy schedule.  That was, until he found Club Emvic.

Friday night was the one night that Justin worked at Club Emvic which overlapped with the work he did with Joe.  He had to leave right after his second performance on Friday to get to his job on time.  And then he had missed his stop.  Justin was sure Joe would forgive him; at least he hoped Joe would.

After emptying all the wastebaskets, Justin was ready to start on the toilets.  That was the part of the job he liked least, but he knew it was his responsibility.  He could hear the big floor cleaning machine roaring.  Joe always did that part of the work, partly because the machine to polish the floors was expensive, but it was also very heavy and awkward to maneuver.  Joe always took it upon himself to use it.  Justin figured that was a fair tradeoff – toilets for the heavy machine.

As Justin finished cleaning the three stalls in the men’s restroom, he heard Joe coming down the hall with the floor polisher.  The machine shut off.  Justin looked at his watch.  Time for a break.

“Hey,” Joe said pushing the restroom door open.  “Come have something to eat.”

Justin smiled at the big man as he finished wiping out the last basin.  He saved the basins till after he was done with the toilets.  “Great,” Justin said.  He walked out of the restroom and down the hall to the break room of this business.  He washed his hands in the sink there and sat down, after pulling a granola bar out of his back pocket.

“Save that for dessert,” Joe ordered as he pulled out his thermos.  “Grab a cup out of the cupboard.”

Justin smiled and retrieved a mug from the cupboard.  He handed it to Joe.

“The wife made chicken gumbo,” Joe said with a smile.

“You do know that you don’t have to feed me,” Justin said with a grin.  He said that every night that they worked together, but he still got soup.

“Try telling my missus that.  Ever since I said you were a skinny kid, she’s felt the need to feed you.”

“I do appreciate it,” Justin admitted taking a sip of the hearty soup.  “Tell Lydia she makes the best soup I’ve ever tasted.”

“Yes, she does, and I’ll be sure to tell her,” Joe said sipping his own soup.  “Grab a couple of spoons,” he said to Justin.  “This is too good to waste a drop … or a piece of chicken.”

When Joe and Justin finished their soup, Joe handed Justin half a sandwich.  Joe had tried bringing a separate sandwich for the boy, but Justin had refused to take all that food as he called it.  So Joe and Lydia had come up with a different plan.  She made a mammoth single sandwich, which she cut in half, well, more one third to two thirds.  Justin always got the smaller piece.  Justin seemed to accept that with no argument.

“I love ham,” Joe said as he wiped his mouth.  “I think they should put ham in every meal.”

Justin laughed.  “Yeah, you can’t beat ham.”

“So, how are your studies going?”

Justin smiled.  He loved these breaks with Joe.  It was almost like having a family dinner or as close to one as he got these days.  Joe always asked how Justin was doing at PIFA.  He wanted details about any projects Justin was working on, and he wanted to hear about Justin’s grades and the professors.  He wanted to know everything.  And Justin was pleased to tell him.  He had no one else to talk to about the highs and lows of art school.

“I just finished this great project,” Justin said.  “We had to use junk and turn it into a collage.  It was great.”

“Junk?”

“Yeah, you know, making something out of nothing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about that?  I have lots of junk you could have used for that assignment,” Joe laughed.

“Thanks, but I have my own junk,” Justin teased.  “Anyway, I made a collage about violence.  I used headlines from newspapers, and some pictures plus a toy gun I found lying in the street.  Some kid must have dropped it.  Then I painted around and over them.  I used lots of red, a blood color,” Justin said.  He hesitated as that color flooded his mind.

Joe watched the look on the boy’s face.  He had seen it many times before, usually in relation to some discussion of a crime or a murder, something in the newspapers.  Joe wondered why that kind of topic upset Justin so much, but he knew it did every time it came up.  And here was the kid making an art project about that very thing.  Joe wanted to ask what caused that look on the kid’s face, but he didn’t think Justin was ready to tell him yet.

“What was your mark on that assignment?” Joe asked.

“A,” Justin said proudly.

“Good lad,” the big black man replied.  “Finished your sandwich?”  Justin nodded.  “Let’s get back to work.”

“I’ll wash up the dishes we used,” Justin said.  “I still have the ladies’ restroom and the one off the main office to do.”

“Finish those and then make sure everything is dusted,” Joe instructed as he packed his thermos into his lunch pail.

“Will do,” Justin replied running some water into the sink in the break room.

Some time later, Justin was finishing the bathroom off the main office of the business.  He glanced at the bottles of cologne, after shave and skin refresher lined up near the sink.  He picked up one bottle and sniffed.  This was his favorite.  Every time he cleaned this bathroom, he sniffed that bottle.  It was called Baldessarini by Hugo Boss.  It smelled divine.  Justin wanted to splash some on himself, but he refrained, like he always did.  A sniff was one thing, but using the cologne from one of Joe’s customers was a definite no-no.  Reluctantly Justin set the bottle back where it had been.

He looked around the bathroom making sure everything was pristine and in its place.  When he was satisfied that it was done, he walked out into the main office.  He had dusted the other rooms while Joe was cleaning the glass blocks and windows throughout the office complex.  All he had left to do was dust this room.  Justin picked up his cloth and the tray of cleaning products.  He was to use lemon oil on wood, and a different cleanser on tile or granite.  He started with the big table at one end of the room.

As he dusted he looked at the work that was standing on easels beside the table.  He wrinkled his nose, but kept dusting.  His brain, however, had gone into overdrive.

A little while later Joe stuck his head into the office.  “You done?” he asked.

“Yep,” Justin replied giving a last swipe of lemon oil to the big boss’ desk.

“Come on then,” Joe said.  “I’ll give you a ride home.”

Dumb Blond

Chapter 4





“Thanks, Joe,” Justin said as he slid out of the old van.  “See you Monday, and I won’t be late.”

“Make it so, kid, make it so,” Joe said with a grin before he drove off.

Justin entered the old apartment building where he lived.  The lobby was dingy and not well lit, and of course, there was no security.  Anybody could walk in as the door didn’t even close properly, let alone lock.  Justin went to his mailbox and opened it.  The only things in there were advertisements and bills.

With a sigh Justin started his climb up the stairs to the seventh floor.

‘It’s good for my dancing legs,’ Justin thought as he approached the first landing.

‘It builds stamina,’ Justin told himself as he rounded the second landing.

‘Gives me strong lungs,’ he assured himself while passing the third floor.

‘Keeps me slim and trim.’  The fourth landing came and went.

‘Tall and proud, Taylor.’  Fifth landing.

‘The future will be yours.’  Rounding the sixth landing.

‘And you’re home, such as it is,’ Justin said to himself as he unlocked the door to his tiny apartment and turned on the light.

He stepped inside and quickly closed the door.  He flipped the multiple locks before walking over to his sofa and sitting down.  He breathed deeply a few times.  As much as he tried to convince himself that he was doing a good thing by walking up seven floors, his body always found those last two floors really hard.  Justin wondered if it would ever get any better.  He had lived here for several months now, and the climb still got to him.

Justin closed his eyes and laid his head back on the old sofa.  He had found the pullout couch in a Salvation Army store, paid twenty bucks for it and another forty to get it delivered and brought up to his apartment.  He was glad to have it.  It was actually quite a nice piece of furniture.  Someone had probably thought they needed a new sofa and had offered this one to the Thrift Store run by the Salvation Army.  That was their loss, and Justin’s gain.

That was how Justin had furnished his apartment.  Everything had come from secondhand stores or from cast offs that he had found in the street.  He had nothing of his own when he first came here, just his meager assortment of clothes.

After his breath evened out Justin glanced at his watch.  It was almost four in the morning.  He was exhausted, and he had to get up by nine to make the best use of his studio time at PIFA at ten.  Wearily he pulled off his clothes, yanked out the sofa bed and crawled in.  He was asleep in minutes.

*****

Brian Kinney staggered out of Babylon.  He was wasted … and proud of it.  He couldn’t remember what he had drunk or sniffed or swallowed, but he knew there had been quite a bit of scotch and a few bumps, oh, and some E.  It didn’t really matter.  He had been to the backroom a bunch of times.  He had fucked and been sucked and that was what mattered.

He looked at his Jeep parked down the street, but even in his wasted state, he had more sense than to try to drive home.  He signaled a cab that was parked a little way up the block.  Babylon was closing and there was always a string of taxis waiting for men in Brian’s condition who would need a ride home.

Brian got in the back of the cab and tried to focus.  He managed to remember his address and told the cabbie.  They were at the loft building in a few minutes.

“This is the address,” the cabbie said as he pulled to a stop.

Brian opened his eyes which seemed determined to stay closed.  “Yeah, right,” he replied.  He fished in his pocket for a twenty which he handed to the cabbie.  “Keep the change.”  The fare was actually a little over eight dollars.

“Thanks, pal,” the man said.  “You okay to get yourself to your apartment?”

“Why?  You offering to carry me?”

The cabbie snorted.  “No, but I could give you a hand.”

“I don’t need a round of applause, and I can walk into the building just fine, and my apartment is called a loft,” Brian stated as he opened the cab door and managed to get himself out.

‘Asshole,’ the cabbie thought.  He had merely wanted to help since the guy had been so generous with his tip, and he was pretty wasted.  The cab driver shook his head and drove off.  Even if the guy was an asshole, a twelve dollar tip wasn’t bad.  The man could fend for himself from here on out.

Brian fumbled with his keys and finally got the right one into the front door of his building.  He staggered inside and over to the elevator.  He thumped the button, calling it back to the first floor.  When it arrived he got in and rode the short journey to his floor.  More fumbling with his keys and the lock on the loft finally opened allowing him inside.

He swayed slightly back and forth as he tried to head to the fridge.  He was thirsty after all the shit he had ingested at Babylon.  A bottle of water later, Brian was feeling a little less drunk, but he still had a passable buzz.

He went up the steps to the bedroom.  He knew he smelled like sex and booze and drugs and the backroom of Babylon.  He needed a shower.  He glanced at the clock as he shucked off his clothes.  It was just after four a.m.  A quick shower would still give him three hours of sleep.  That should be enough.

In the shower Brian stood under the hot water letting it sluice off all the smells and other remnants of his backroom escapades.  He had fucked two guys and been sucked at least a couple of times, maybe more.  He really couldn’t remember big chunks of the evening.  But it had been a good night.  Brian smiled.

And then a blond figure materialized in his thoughts.  “Shit!” Brian said aloud.  He thought he had banished the memory of the Dumb Blond.  All the men he had at Babylon had blocked that memory for hours.  But here it was snaking back into his consciousness again.

Brian’s hand went automatically to his thickening dick.  He began to jerk off, thinking all the while about a simple pair of white cotton underwear sliding down over a creamy ass.  He wanted to bury his cock balls deep in that beautiful receptacle.

“Ahhhhh!” Brian gasped as he came hard.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Brian mumbled as he quickly dried himself.  He walked naked out to the bedroom and slid under the sheets.  He was asleep in a flash.

*****

Justin blinked.  It was him!

The man stepped out of the alley.  He didn’t speak.  He didn’t ask impossible questions.  He approached with confidence and a funny little smirk on his beautiful face.  Those green eyes and the aquiline nose were perfect.  He was unbelievably handsome.

Justin felt his pulse race and his heart thump loudly in his ears.  His cock throbbed in his jeans.  Beads of sweat stood out on his brow.  His mouth dropped open as he drew in a raspy breath.

The next thing Justin knew he was in the man’s arms and he was being kissed like he had never been kissed before.

His knees went weak, but he held on and opened his mouth to the probing tongue.  And then they were swept away on a wave of passion that threatened to drown them both.

Justin groaned as he came hard.

After a few minutes Justin’s eyelids fluttered and his eyes opened.

“Shit!” he exclaimed as he realized he had made a mess all over his bed.

*****

Brian awoke to the sound of his alarm.  He reached over and gave it a swat to shut it up.  His head felt like a freight train had run over it.  He wondered how many drugs and how much alcohol he had ingested at Babylon.  He could drink and drug plenty without any ill effects, so he must have gone way beyond plenty.

With a groan he forced his reluctant body to leave the bed.  He headed for the shower hoping that would help his headache and the dilapidated feel of his body.

Having showered and dry swallowed three aspirin, Brian headed for the kitchen.  He drank a glass of guava juice and decided to pick up coffee on his way to work.

When he arrived at Kinnetik, having picked up his Jeep from near Babylon, he handed Cynthia a large latte and smugly took a sip out of his own.

“What’s this for?” she asked.

“Don’t question the gift horse,” Brian retorted.

“You’re a gift horse?  I thought you were more like a sleek race horse that had been put out to stud.”

Brian almost spit his coffee all over his assistant.  “I think we’ll stop with the horse analogies now.  Is Mick in the art department?”

“He just got here.”

“Good, I may need him.”

“He wasn’t happy about coming in on Saturday.”

“If he wants this job, he better be happy,” Brian advised.

“Whatever you say, Boss,” Cynthia said smiling sweetly before she headed to her desk.

Brian watched her for a moment before he went into his office.

*****

Justin woke with a start.  It was barely 7:30 and he didn’t have to be to PIFA until ten.  He had been dreaming about that guy again.  He rubbed his eyes and pulled the sheet around him.

How could some guy he didn’t know, who had barely spoken to him, who had frightened him, take over his waking … and sleeping hours.  This was too weird.  It was just that the face of this guy was so beautiful.  He was like some Greek or Roman god that Justin had studied statues of in his art classes.

Closing his eyes, Justin could picture the features that had consumed his brain ever since he had seen the man at Club Emvic.  Justin’s fingers itched to sketch him.  He wanted to get that face down on paper before he forgot, if he ever could.  He was sure he would never see the man again, but he wanted to.  He wasn’t sure how he could act any differently with him than he had the first time, but he longed to see that face, and that body, again.

Justin tried to push the images away.  He needed to go back to sleep.  He could get another hour or so before he had to get up.  He turned over and pulled the sheet over his head blocking out the light.  He lay still trying to empty his mind.

*****

Brian sat at his desk studying the files on his computer.  They were working on a campaign for a logistics company called Fluke Transportation.  The Fluke family owned a large fleet of transport trucks that delivered goods all over North America.  The logistics business was very competitive, so this company had come to Kinnetik hoping that a great ad campaign would boost their share of the lucrative market.

The first thing Brian would have done, had the option been given to him, would be to change the damn name.  Who wanted to deal with a company where getting the job done could be a “Fluke”?  Once Brian found out that the family name of the people who owned this company was Fluke, he didn’t even venture to suggest a name change.

Brian and his crew had come up with some good ideas.  The boards that had been dreamed up were sitting on easels at the far side of Brian’s office.  The Fluke family, consisting mainly of two brothers who ran the day to day operations, was scheduled to come in at 4 p.m. that day.  The only thing missing was a catchy slogan that would cap off the campaign.  Brian had tossed around a lot of different ideas, and they had finally ended up with “Let Fluke Logistics take a load off your mind”.  It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either.  Something was nagging at the back of Brian’s brain.  He knew there was a better slogan out there if he could just get the words to jump out of his mind and onto his computer.  That was why he had Mick come in today, in case he got a great idea that he could place on the boards at a moment’s notice.

Brian leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling.  Nothing would come to him.  After a few minutes he stood up and walked toward the boards standing on the easels.  He loved the colors.  They were bold and eye catching so that was a good thing.  If only he could get the right slogan…

Brian stopped in front of the boards.  There were three of them.  He studied the first one.  It was good.  But…  It needed that fucking great slogan he was searching for.  “Let Fluke Logistics take a load off your mind” just didn’t cut it.

Brian moved to the middle board.  This was one of his favorites.  That was when he noticed a post-it note stuck on the right side of the board.  Brian scowled.  Someone would have his head chopped off for leaving this scrap of paper stuck to the presentation he was going to make in a few hours.  He yanked the post-it note off the board.  He was about to scrunch it up in his hand and throw it away, when he decided to see what was written on it.  If he found out that someone at Kinnetik was making comments on the work they were doing, comments that might have been found by their clients if Brian hadn’t noticed the post-it just now, there would be hell to pay.

Brian looked down at the small square of yellow paper.  “If it’s on time, it’s a Fluke!” was printed on the square of paper.  Brian almost laughed out loud.  It was perfect.  It was absolutely the right slogan for this company.

“Cynthia, get in here!” Brian shouted.

“What is it?” Cynthia asked rushing into the room.  “Are you all right?”

“I’m better than all right.  Why didn’t you tell me you thought of the perfect slogan for Fluke Logistics?”

“I didn’t tell you because I haven’t thought of anything,” Cynthia replied with a frown.

“But … if it wasn’t you, where did this come from?” Brian asked.  He handed her the post-it note.

Cynthia did laugh out loud when she read the slogan.  “Oh, that is just the best idea!” she gushed.  “It’s perfect!”

“I know it is,” Brian said with his own frown, “but where did it come from?”

“Maybe it was one of the interns or one of the up and coming people in the art department,” Cynthia suggested.  “If they weren’t sure we’d like it, maybe this was their way of getting it out there without having to take responsibility if we hated it.”

“Well, we don’t hate it,” Brian stated.  “I want you to find out who came up with this, but first get the slogan down to Mick and have him make new boards using the same pictures, font and colors as these pieces of crap.”  Brian began gathering up the boards.  “Tell him to get this new slogan put on as soon as possible.”

“Sure, Boss, but how do you expect me to find out who printed something on a piece of paper?”

Brian merely looked at her as he handed her the boards.  “Find a way.  And get these changed.  We’ve only got a few hours before the Fluke brothers arrive.”

“I’ll do my best,” Cynthia said before heading out the door.

Brian went to his desk and sat down in his big chair.  Where had that slogan come from?  It was genius.  Usually he was the one who came up with the genius slogans, but not this time.  He had no doubt the Fluke brothers would love the campaign now.

Brian wanted to know who the someone was who had saved his butt with this account.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 5





“Brian, I’m going home now,” Cynthia said as she stuck her head into Brian’s office at Kinnetik.

“Yeah,” Brian replied.  “Thanks for getting everything done today.”

“That’s my job.”

“And you’re extremely good at it.”

“Is that a compliment I hear?” Cynthia asked with a grin.  It pleased her to have Brian’s praise.  She knew he respected her and appreciated the work she did for him, but it was nice to have it verbalized.

“The Fluke people loved the campaign, so yes, that was a compliment.  But don’t let it go to your head,” Brian warned with a little smirk.

“Never, Boss.”

“Oh, before you go, did you find out who came up with that slogan?”

“No, I questioned Mick, but he doesn’t know anything about it.  He said he’d ask around, but I doubt anybody’s going to cop to it.”

Brian frowned.  That was strange.  “You’d think whoever came up with that slogan would want to take credit, especially since it was so successful.”

“Maybe they’re shy,” Cynthia suggested.

“And which one of our employees is shy?” Brian asked sarcastically.  “I don’t think we hire them if they’re shy.”

“Point taken,” Cynthia admitted.  “But I don’t have any more to tell you.”

“Keep searching,” Brian ordered.

“I will … but on Monday.  I’m going home.”

“Good night.”

“Night, Boss.  You should go soon too,” she advised.  She thought Brian had looked a little rough all day.

“Thanks for the advice.  I’ll take that under consideration,” Brian snarked.

Cynthia shook her head as she went back to her office to get her purse.  Mick had left hours ago.  She and Brian had been working out all the details of the Fluke campaign, now that it was all signed, sealed and delivered.  That slogan had been a big part of the success of what they had presented.

Brian leaned back in his chair.  He was glad that the Flukes had liked the ad campaign, but he felt vaguely uneasy about using an idea that was not his own, an idea that came from who knew where.  It had to be someone at Kinnetik or how else could the post-it note have been placed on the board.  It was a big puzzle.

Brian glanced at his computer and noted that it was heading for ten p.m.  He should definitely take Cynthia’s advice and get the fuck out of this office, especially on a Saturday evening.  He shut down his computer and stared at the blank screen.

He felt restless.  There was something nagging at the back of his mind.  Looking over at the displays that had impressed the Fluke Logistics people, Brian had an idea.  He got up from his desk and walked over to the boards.  He carried a post-it pad and a pen in his hand.  He scribbled something on the post-it, tore it off and stuck it in the middle of the board he had found the other note pasted to.  He stepped back and noted that it would be pretty hard to miss the small square of yellow paper.  That done, he knew what else he was going to do with the remainder of his evening.

*****

Brian brought his Jeep to a stop close to the same spot he had used the night before.  He had gone to the loft from his office, changed, donned his club clothes, and here he was.  He glanced in the rearview mirror and gave his hair a tug.

“I’d do you,” he said aloud to the empty vehicle.

He opened the door and got out, standing in the street oblivious to the traffic that passed by.

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ he silently asked himself.

‘Having some fun,’ his inner voice answered.

‘Are you sure?’ he questioned himself.

‘We’re about to find out.’

Brian walked towards the entrance to Club Emvic.  As he walked through the door he withdrew a twenty from his pocket and handed it to the bouncer who had opened his mouth to tell him the cost of admission.  Brian didn’t give him the chance.  The man waved him into the club before he opened the cash box on the desk to deposit the twenty.

The chain and velvet curtain clinked softly as Brian pushed it aside.  He stepped into the main part of the club and looked around.  He didn’t see either Vic or Emmett.  He wasn’t sure if he was happy they weren’t there or disappointed not to see them again.  He decided it was better they weren’t there.  There would be too many questions about his quick return to the club.  He didn’t have any good answers to give them.  He wasn’t quite sure why he was there himself, well yes he was sure, but that was something he wasn’t prepared to reveal to anyone else.

Brian found a small table over at the side of the stage.  He decided that suited him better than the owners’ table which sat empty at the moment.  When a waiter approached, Brian ordered a scotch.  The big guy with the huge dick was doing his act, such as it was, on the stage.  Brian watched for the big reveal while he waited for his drink.

When the massive member came into view, the audience did its predictable intake of breath, and then the guy was gone.  The stage was empty.  Brian knew he would have to wait a few minutes for what he actually wanted to see.  When his scotch appeared, he paid for it with a generous tip included, and ordered another – a double - to be brought as soon as this one was finished.

“Dutch courage?” a voice said from behind Brian.

Brian almost spit his scotch across the table.  He swallowed quickly and turned to face whoever had spoken.  “Are you trying to give me heart failure?” he asked Vic who stood grinning behind him.

“At your advanced age, it’s good to be careful,” Vic informed him.

“Fuck you,” Brian said without rancor.

“Any day,” Vic responded.  Brian laughed out loud.  “I didn’t expect to see you back here so soon,” Vic said.

“I like being unpredictable.”

Vic raised an eyebrow.  “Is there perchance a certain dancer you’ve returned to see?”

“What makes you say that?”  Brian didn’t want to admit how close to the truth Vic may have stumbled.

“Something must have caught your attention.  Ordinarily you just drag a guy off and fuck him.  You’re not usually the voyeur type.”

“I don’t have to drag them; they come willingly,” Brian said.  He decided to leave it at that.

“May I join you for a drink?”

“Sure,” Brian agreed.  He could use a little company until the next act came on stage.

Vic signaled the waiter to bring him a beer.  Brian raised his glass to indicate that he’d have the double he had already ordered.

“Where’s your partner in crime?”

“In the office.”

“Counting your profits?” Brian asked sarcastically.

“That’s not funny,” Vic responded bitterly.

The waiter set their drinks in front of them.

“Have you done any advertising?” Brian asked as he took a drink of his scotch.  “I haven’t seen anything about this place in the papers.”

“We have a limited budget.”

“So, where are you using it?”

“We have a small ad in the Pittsburgh Gazette Entertainment section every weekend.”

Brian snorted.  “You’re not expecting to attract straight guys, are you?” he asked.

“Of course not, but some will come.”

“Vic,” Brian said, his voice softening.  “You should be advertising in the gay papers, flyers in local gyms, posters on Liberty Avenue.”

“Hmm,” Vic said.

“Are you listening, Vic?  I’m trying to help.”

“I hear you.”

“This kind of advice costs thousands if you come to Kinnetik, so I hope you understand that I’m really trying to help you out.”

“I get it, Brian, and thanks.  I’ll talk to Emmett.”

“You might want to let on that you thought this up yourself, or you went to some other ad agency.  I don’t think I’m in Emmett’s good books at the moment.”

“You’re not,” Vic said with a wry laugh.  “He was really hurt that you didn’t come to opening night.”

Brian sucked in his lips.  “I honestly forgot,” Brian said contritely.

“That won’t make him feel any better.”

“No, I guess it won’t,” Brian admitted.

“Well, I better get back to the office,” Vic said standing up.  “Our star attraction will be out in a minute,” he added watching for Brian’s reaction.

Brian showed no reaction as he said, “I suppose I could stay for that.”

Vic smiled knowingly before walking away.

‘Fuck,’ Brian thought.  He knew Vic was onto him.

Just then the lights dimmed and the music for the “Dumb Blond” started.  Brian redirected his attention back to the stage.  He leaned back in his chair and waited for the blond to take the stage.

Brian half expected to find a myriad of flaws in the young performer once he saw him again.  He had tried to convince himself that he had merely been struck by the youth and confidence of the dancer, and that upon seeing him again, there would be much to dislike.

Justin line danced his way onto the stage this time, his too big boots almost tripping him up.  Brian had to smile as the dancer neared the edge of the stage and flashed that smile at his audience.  Brian was impressed that the stumble on his entrance had not thrown the dancer off his game.  Justin began his gyrations throwing in some moves that he had not used when Brian had seen him before.  He seemed to feel the music and do whatever it suggested to him.  Brian watched, once again mesmerized.  No flaws could he spot.

Brian felt himself being pulled into the act.  He hung on each move unable to look away.  He half expected for the dancer to lock eyes with him again, but that didn’t happen this time, as much as Brian might have wished it.  When Justin slid his tighty whiteys off, Brian felt his cock harden and strain in his jeans.  God, he wanted this blond.

And then the dance was over.  The stage was empty and the audience was standing and cheering.  Brian stayed in his seat.  He refused to act like the rest of the needy men in the audience.  He caught the waiter’s eye and held up his glass indicating that he wanted another double.  At least he could add to Vic and Emmett’s profits courtesy of his bar bill.

“You decided to regale us with your presence once again?” a sarcastic voice said from behind him.

“Do you and Vic sneak up on all your customers?” Brian asked snidely as he realized who it was.

“I didn’t expect to see you for at least another three months,” Emmett told him dropping into the chair on the other side of Brian’s small table.

The waiter produced Brian’s next drink, took the money and tip, and then left.

“Shouldn’t you be sitting in the owner’s box?” Brian asked hoping that would encourage Emmett to leave him alone.  No such luck.

“I’d much rather sit with my old and dear friend who has returned to our little club that he shunned for such a long time.  Now why do you suppose he came back?” Emmett asked with a wry look on his face.

Brian took a long drink from his glass.  He had to wonder if Vic had told Emmett why he was there, or had the tall, gap toothed man figured it out himself.  “I needed a drink, and I happened to be in the area,” Brian stated, keeping his voice level and calm.  He took another swallow from his drink.

“And nothing at all to do with a certain blond dancer that you happened to accost in the street last night.”

“I did not accost him,” Brian said.

Emmett grinned.  Justin had mentioned what had happened the previous evening, wondering who the man was since he had been sitting in the owner’s box with Emmett and Vic.

“He asked about me?” Brian queried trying not to sound overly interested.

“You frightened him.”

“I … I didn’t mean to frighten him.  I just wanted to talk to him.”

“You never talk, Brian, unless you’re forced to.”

“I can … talk when I want to,” Brian informed his friend.  He finished off what was left in his glass.

“And why did you want to talk to our little dancer?” Emmett asked.  He really wanted an answer to that question.

“He seemed … interesting – a cut above the rest of your employees.”

Emmett studied Brian for a few seconds.  Obviously Brian was interested in Justin.  It was very out of character for Brian to talk to anyone like that.  It would be more likely for him to whisper some obscene comment, and then fuck the living daylights out of any man he approached.  This new twist with Justin was something Emmett had never seen before, and he was intrigued.

“And here you are again tonight,” Emmett observed.

“As I said, I was in the neighborhood.”

“Riiight.”

Brian chose to ignore Emmett’s obvious skepticism.  “Who do I have to blow to get a drink in this place?” Brian snarked, waving his empty glass under Emmett’s nose.

Emmett chuckled. “You could do me.”

“I don’t think so,” Brian responded, immediately regretting his previous statement.

“Pfft!” Emmett said.  He motioned to the waiter to bring more drinks.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until the drinks arrived.  Brian pulled out his wallet, but Emmett shook his head and the waiter left.  Brian was about to protest when he remembered that Emmett was a proud man.  He would not like Brian refusing his generous offer of a drink.  Emmett sipped his cosmo and Brian took some of his scotch.

“So will you be staying for the next performance?” Emmett asked after a bit.

“He’ll be on again?” Brian asked, and then mentally kicked himself for the use of that pronoun.

“Yes,” Emmett said with a knowing smile.  It was telling that Brian refused to look at him.  “On Saturday nights our entertainers do three shows,” Emmett explained.

“The next show’s the last?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe I’ll stay,” Brian replied trying to sound uninterested and non-committal.

“You know, Brian, it’s okay to be interested in someone,” Emmett said gently.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Brian said with a frown.  He took a sip of his scotch.  He’d had several already, and didn’t want to get too drunk.

“I think you know exactly what I mean,” Emmett replied.  Brian remained silent staring into his glass.  “If you want, I could ask our star performer to come out and have a drink with you after his last performance.”

Brian looked up and into Emmett’s eyes.  He saw caring and understanding in the blue eyes.  “Do you think he would?”

“I can ask.”

The corners of Brian’s mouth curled up in the beginnings of a smile.  “Sure, ask and let me know,” Brian said.

“Will do.”  Emmett made to stand up, but Brian placed a hand on Emmett’s arm indicating that Emmett should stay put for a minute more.  Apparently Brian wasn’t finished.

“Why doesn’t he talk?” Brian asked in a whisper.

“You’ll have to ask him about that,” Emmett replied.

“How can I ask him if he doesn’t talk?” Brian asked annoyed.

“He can hear you.”

“I know that, but he can’t answer or he won't answer.”

“I’ll tell him to bring a pad and pencil.  He can write, you know.  He’s not stupid.”

“I didn’t think he was that kind of ‘dumb’,” Brian replied.

“I didn’t think you did.  Be careful, Brian,” Emmett warned.  “Don’t hurt him, and try not to scare him again.”

Brian merely nodded as Emmett got up.  He watched his friend walk away.  He was glad that he and Emmett seemed to be on better terms.  He just wondered what the fuck he was getting into with the “dumb blond”.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 6





Brian sat through the whole lineup of acts at Club Emvic, and he did that without even knowing for sure that the Dumb Blond would join him when the night was over.  All Brian had was Emmett’s promise to tell the dancer that Brian had requested him to join him for a drink.  That wasn’t much to rely on, but it was a testament to Brian’s desire to know more about the enticing dancer, that he was willing to sit there through another set of performances.

The amateurish nature of the performances seemed to have improved a little even since the previous night when Brian had seen some of the men go through their acts.  Brian felt a little better for his friends that the talent level was improving.  Things at the club might be looking up.  Even the guy with the big dick seemed slightly more entertaining.

And then the Dumb Blond was on the stage once again.  Brian watched intently, although to look at him, he gave every appearance of not caring a fig about what he was watching.  As the act neared the end, Justin’s eyes locked with Brian’s as they had that first night.  Brian felt a jolt of electricity hit him as they silently acknowledged each other.  Justin didn’t smile at him.  He didn’t smile until after he looked away.  And then once again the act was over.

Brian waited and watched.  Some of the dancers, mostly the ones who performed earlier on the roster, gradually filtered out into the main part of the club.  Dressed in street clothes, it was often hard to distinguish who the dancers were.  Men stayed at most of the tables, drinking and also waiting.  Some of the dancers went directly to a certain table, as if the rendezvous had already been arranged.  Some stood by the bar sipping a drink and looking out at the men who still remained.  Occasionally one of the customers would get up from his table and approach a man at the bar.  They would usually leave together after a few minutes of conversation.  Brian was sure he knew what they were going to be doing.

Adam Adonis, the dancer with the big dick, shoved the chain and velvet curtain aside and entered the club.  That caught the remaining men’s attentions.  Adam headed for the bar and three men converged on him there.  Brian could imagine why he was so popular, and wondered how much extra he made from his admirers once his work at the club was over.  It wasn’t long before Adam and one of the men left.

Brian saw the other two men sit back down with their drinks.  He frowned.  Maybe that meant they were still waiting to hook up, and the only dancer who had not appeared was the Dumb Blond.  Did they think they were going to latch onto the blond?  Brian had to wonder if his blond – and as stupid as that seemed, he did think of the exotic dancer as his blond – also made arrangements with men at the club.  Certainly that hadn’t happened the other night.  The blond had left very shortly after his act, and he had been alone when Brian had accosted him in the street.  But maybe tonight was different.  Brian didn’t like the funny feeling he had in the pit of his stomach.

As Brian waited, the club continued to empty out.  Brian glanced at his watch.  It was almost two in the morning.  He finished off his drink, and began to wonder if the blond dancer had turned down his offer of a drink.  It was looking more and more like he had.  If that was the case, Brian would have hoped that Vic or Emmett would have come back to tell him that he had been refused.  Neither of them was anywhere to be seen.

Brian decided to give his dancer five more minutes, and then he was leaving.  Time ticked away with Brian checking his watch every few seconds.  Just as Brian was about to give up and leave, a blond head peeked through the velvet and chain curtain.  Brian caught the movement and recognized the hair.  He smiled to himself.

The Dumb Blond was coming into the club.  Brian held his breath.

The dancer looked around the room.  Several men perked up when he entered, but he gave them all a cursory glance until his gaze fell on Brian.  He let a smile twitch at the corners of his mouth as he walked towards Brian’s table.  He carried some kind of a pad that he set down on the table before he sat down himself.

“Hello,” Brian said not knowing what else to say.

Justin nodded and stared at the handsome man.

“My name is Brian.”

Justin nodded again.

“Do you have a name other than Dumb Blond?”

Justin smiled and opened his pad.  He wrote Justin on the page and showed it to Brian.

“Hm, Justin,” Brian responded.  He kind of liked that name.  “Would you like a drink?”

Justin wrote on his pad Bourbon.

Brian smiled lazily and motioned to the waiter who took their order.  “We’ll be closing in twenty minutes,” the waiter informed them.

“Okay, we’ll have this drink before we leave,” Brian replied.

All Justin heard was the ‘we’.  He wasn’t sure quite what that meant but he liked the sound of it.  He hadn’t been part of a ‘we’ for a very long time.

“So, um, you don’t speak?” Brian asked as they waited for their drinks.

Justin shook his head.

“Is it a physiological problem?” Brian asked.

Justin smiled to himself.  Besides being extremely handsome this man had a brain.  He used the word physiological, and even used it correctly.  He shook his head.

“So, you can speak?”

Justin pulled his pad around and wrote: I can, but I choose not to.

“Is there a reason for that?”  Brian’s brow furrowed.  Why would someone choose not to speak?  It was certainly easier to talk than write on a pad of paper.

Justin started to write something just as the waiter brought their bourbons.  He finished what he was writing before handing the pad to Brian and picking up his drink.  He sipped it while Brian read.

There’s a very good reason, but I’m not prepared to explain it to you.  That is something that will be revealed down the road, if that’s where we end up going.

Brian read and reread the statement on the pad.  It sounded like Justin expected them to become a fucking couple or something.  It sounded like he wanted a long term … relationship.  Brian shuddered involuntarily.  He didn’t do relationships.  He did fucking.  He better make sure this kid knew that right from the outset.

“I invited you for a drink,” Brian stated.  “That’s all.”  Justin’s face sobered as he heard the words.  “I like to fuck.  I was hoping you did too.”

Justin tried to keep the shock from his face.  Emmett had warned him about Brian’s methods and his attitude toward sex.  Justin had been prepared to stand up to Brian.  He wasn’t going to be pushed into something he didn’t want to do.  The only problem was that he couldn’t get this guy’s image out of his mind.  Whatever the man wanted to do to and with him seemed like it would be a good thing.

He felt the attraction that was unspoken between them, but he wasn’t sure he could be satisfied with a one night stand that had no emotion, no caring.  He wanted to be loved and cherished.  Obviously this Brian wasn’t going to give him that, if Emmett was right.  But Justin had felt something from Brian, something that went beyond just the physical attraction.  Even during their brief encounter the previous evening Justin had felt a tenderness, a concern, in spite of being scared out of his wits.  He wanted to explore those feelings, whatever they might turn out to be.  And this guy was as sexy as hell.  Justin couldn’t help but wonder what sex with him would be like.

So the question became – was one night of sex enough?  Might it get him and Brian to the place that Justin would like to be?  From Emmett’s warnings, Justin could only imagine what an experienced and accomplished lover Brian would be.  That would be something to remember, if nothing else.  A night of intense pleasure could be a very good thing.  Especially since all he had felt lately was pain and sorrow.

The more Justin thought about it, the more he realized that he was being stupid.  He didn’t know this man.  He didn’t really have any idea what he was getting himself into.  Justin barely knew himself anymore.  He should just leave.  He pushed back his chair and stood up.

“You’re leaving?” Brian asked.  Justin nodded.  “Something I said?” Brian snarked.  Justin merely shrugged and started to walk away.  “I didn’t think you were a coward,” Brian added as a parting shot.

Justin stopped in his tracks and turned to face Brian.  He so wanted to tell this arrogant asshole that he wasn’t a coward, that Brian had no idea what his life was like, what he had been through.  He wanted to shout it at the man who was lounging so insolently in his chair, and looking absolutely gorgeous as he did so.

Instead, Justin picked up his pad and sat back down at the table.  He began to write, and as he wrote he remembered his dream and the brief encounter with Brian the previous evening.  Finally he handed the pad to Brian who immediately began to read what Justin had written.

I think we have very different ideas about life and love and happiness.  I’ve never had a one night stand, but if I was going to have one, it would be with you.  I know we are attracted to each other.  I feel it and see it and sense it.  I think you do too.  I really want more than just sex, but maybe that’s all that you can give.  I accept your challenge.

Brian was stunned by what Justin had written.  “You’re going to come with me?”

Justin nodded.  He took back his pad and wrote:  I’ll try to be what you want for one night.  Maybe then you can be what I want for a long time after.

“Christ, this sounds like a fucking lifelong commitment, and I don’t do commitment,” Brian stated.  Justin shrugged and smiled one of those warm smiles that Brian found quite entrancing.

Justin enjoyed rattling Brian’s cage.  It was nice to see him get flustered.  Justin took the pad and wrote:  Why did you come back tonight? He was curious.  He thought that running away from Brian would have totally turned the man off.

Brian thought about that.  He wasn’t sure he knew the answer, but one thing was clear.  “Something about you impressed me.”

Justin smiled again.  I bet you were impressed with my dick.

Brian laughed out loud.  “As impressive as your cock is there’s something else about you.”  Brian looked into the deep blue eyes.  “Besides, if I wanted an impressive dick, I would be wooing the act before yours.”

‘Jesus, where did that come from?’ Brian asked himself.  Wooing, what the fuck was that?

It was Justin’s turn to laugh, albeit silently.  Brian could see that his comment had tickled the young man.

Most people are impressed with my ass, Justin wrote.

“I can see why.”

Justin finished his drink.  It was now or never.  Do you want to go?

Brian nodded.  He threw down a hundred dollars on the table and stood up.  “Your place or mine?” he said.

Justin knew he could not bring Brian to his place.  Seven floors up.  They’d both be too tired to do anything but collapse on the old sofa.  He pointed at Brian indicating that they should go to Brian’s place.

“Let’s go.”

Justin picked up his pad and followed Brian out of the club.  There was still no sign of Vic or Emm.  Brian thought that must be deliberate.  His friends didn’t want to interfere, although they had obviously warned Justin about him.  He expected the warning, would have been surprised if they had not given Justin a heads up.  There was something about this kid that made you want to protect him.

Justin felt his heart pounding in his chest.  He had never done anything like this before.  He was no virgin, but his sexual experiences were quite limited.  He knew from what Emmett had told him that Brian certainly was in a whole different stratosphere where sexual experience was concerned.  Justin prayed he could handle what was to come.  He was so lonely, and there was something special about this man.  At least that’s what he continued to tell himself, all the while fighting back his fears.  He could do this, he could do this, he kept telling himself.

They walked out of the club and down the street a short way.  Justin took a deep breath as they passed the alley from which Brian had appeared the night before.  Justin had had such conflicting feelings when that happened.  He so wanted to talk to the man, to touch him, but he was so afraid.  So he had done his usual.  He had run away.  But not tonight!

Brian stopped beside a black Jeep.  Justin waited.

“Get in,” Brian said.

Justin hesitated for just a moment.  There was no going back once he stepped inside the vehicle.  He would be committed to whatever the night might bring.  He closed his eyes for a second, and then pulled open the door and got in.

“I thought you might turn and run,” Brian said.  It was spoken without rancor or spite, just very matter-of-fact.

Justin shrugged and leaned back in the seat.  He wanted to appear more relaxed than he was.  Maybe the appearance of relaxation would help to make it a reality.

Brian started the car and headed down the street.

“Are you a top … or a bottom?” Brian asked after a couple of minutes.

Justin shot the man a look.  What the fuck!  He shrugged his shoulders not knowing what else to do.

“Does that mean you’ve never been fucked up the ass?”

Justin felt his face redden.  He had jerked off with … his boyfriend, they had kissed and sucked and frotted and some other stuff, but they had never got that far.  Justin felt a wave of humiliation and fear swell over him.  He shut his eyes and prayed to disappear.

And then he heard a voice inside his head.  “Be proud, stand tall.  Fuck them all!”  God, he loved Emmett.

Justin opened his eyes, drew in a breath and made a decision.  He opened his pad and began to write.  He would show it to Brian when the car stopped.

Brian watched out of the corner of his eye as he continued to drive.  He had hoped to goad his young passenger into saying something.  The whole pad and paper, writing, silence shit was starting to irritate him.  As much as Brian hated making conversation, he would much prefer doing that to having to wait until Justin wrote his thoughts, and then reading them long after the moment had passed.  Brian continued to drive while Justin continued to write.

It wasn’t much farther to Brian’s loft when Justin stopped writing.  Finally.  Brian figured he might as well continue the trip until he arrived at the loft, before he worried about reading Justin’s fucking Epistle to the Romans.

Brian parked in his usual spot and was about to get out of the car when Justin handed him the pad.

“I can read this upstairs,” Brian said.  Justin shook his head.  “You want me to read it now?” Brian asked.  Justin nodded.  Brian heaved a sigh, wondering when he lost control of this whole night.  He turned on the light in the Jeep and began to read.

To whom it may concern:

That was how the fucking missive began.  Brian was ready to laugh out loud, but a glance at Justin’s serious face told him he might be wise to take this seriously.

To whom it may concern:

I’m not really sure if I’m a top or a bottom.  I haven’t yet been “fucked up the ass” as you so delicately put it.  I thought that might be one of the things that would happen tonight.  I believe I would like to be both a top and a bottom.  I intend to experience everything that life has to offer me.

I think it was rather insensitive of you to pick on me like you did.  It was uncalled for. I guess I thought you were better than that, but apparently I was wrong.

I’m not planning to run away or cry like some little faggot.  I’m proud of myself.  If you don’t think I’m good enough to be with you, if you think I’m too inexperienced or … whatever, then tough!  That’s your problem.

When I get out of this car, I’m prepared to go with you to your apartment, if that’s what you want.  But I can just as easily catch a bus or a cab back to my own place.  That will be up to you.  I’m good either way.

And by the way, if you decide you want me to come with you, then treat me with respect.

Sincerely, Justin

Brian smiled to himself, but kept it from showing on his face.  This kid had balls.  He liked that.  He got out of the Jeep and waited while Justin did the same.  Justin stood by the car waiting for Brian’s decision.

“Are you coming up?” Brian finally asked.

Justin smiled and started to follow Brian towards the front door of the building across the street.

“And it’s a fucking loft, not an apartment,” Brian said as he unlocked the door.

Justin nodded as he passed through the doorway into the building.  He was pleased that Brian held the door for him.  The man seemed to have got the message.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 7





They rode up in the elevator in silence.  Brian watched his young trick with interest.  The kid appeared calm but that remained to be seen.

Justin cast furtive glances at Brian.  When he looked at Brian, he saw a gorgeous man who seemed so experienced and worldly compared to him.  He kept shoving down his fears, telling himself that he could do this.  That he was going to enjoy this night before he went back to his pathetic life.  He needed, no he deserved, some pleasure out of life.  He felt confident that Brian would be able to give him that, a night of pleasure.  And if that was all it turned out to be, then so be it.

When the elevator came to a stop on the top floor, Brian shoved up the wooden gate and walked out.

Justin felt a wave of panic sweep over him.  He knew these old buildings were being made into beautiful and expensive lofts.  Brian must have money, and men with money…  Justin had dealt with a few of them from the club.  They knew what they wanted and they didn’t take no for an answer – at least not without a struggle.  Justin hesitated as memories flooded over him.

“Are you coming or going?” Brian asked from the open door of the loft.

Justin gave himself a mental shake.  He could do this, and he could decide not to do it if he chose.  Right now he was going to see what happened between him and this handsome man.  He walked out of the elevator, holding his head high and remembering Emmett’s words that had become the mantra of his life.

Brian disappeared into the loft as Justin walked through the door.

“Close the door behind you,” Brian ordered from somewhere off to the left.

Justin turned and slid the door closed.  He had made his decision.  When he turned around he was struck by the beauty of the room he stood in.  Gleaming hardwood, expensive furniture, everything minimal but suited to the style of a loft.  He could see an elevated bedroom up a couple of steps from the main level.  He liked the glass panels that closed off some of the bedroom from the rest of the space.  He wondered if they swiveled.  They looked like they probably did.

“Enjoying the view?” Brian asked from the gleaming kitchen.  He was holding a bottle of water that he had obviously been drinking from.  The kitchen was filled with high end, stainless steel appliances, and Brian stood at the end of a beautiful granite countertop. Everything was classy and elegant and so expensive.

Justin nodded.  He had suspected that this place would be ritzy but he was really blown away with how everything looked.  The only thing that seemed to be missing was Brian’s personal items like pictures and mementoes.  But then, Justin had already surmised that Brian wasn’t exactly the sentimental type, at least not on the surface.  Justin still wasn’t sure what he might find under that surface if he ever got to explore it.

“I’m glad the décor pleases you, but I believe there are some other reasons we’re here.  Am I correct?”  ‘Shit!’ Brian thought to himself as soon as he posed that question.  They both knew why they were there.  It sounded like he was asking Justin’s permission, or offering him an out.  Brian wanted this kid and he was going to have him.  But there was also something about Justin that made Brian want him to want it too.  He wanted Justin to be sure about what was going to happen.

‘Um, yeah, other things,’ Justin thought to himself.  He nodded at Brian.

“Then why don’t you come over here?” Brian asked.  “You’re too far away.”

Justin frowned.  It almost sounded like Brian said that because Justin was across the room, but he was also mentally struggling with whether he wanted to be there or somewhere else far away from this place.  Brian seemed to have a good read of what was going on with him.  Brian was smart, but also sensitive in some weird and wonderful way.

Taking a deep breath and bolstering his resolve, Justin walked slowly toward Brian.  He was going to initiate the kiss, he decided along the way.

As soon as Justin neared Brian who was just recapping the water bottle that he had been drinking from, Justin raised his arms and wrapped them around the back of Brian’s neck.  Their lips met with an impact that took both their breaths away.  Justin’s mouth opened without a thought and Brian’s tongue found its way in to plunder and explore.

Justin felt Brian’s hand grab the back of his hair, giving it a tug that only heightened the feeling of the kiss. Then Brian’s fingers were pressing into his scalp, crushing their mouths together.  Justin felt his cock jump and his legs go to rubber.  He held onto Brian even tighter.

Finally Brian pulled his mouth away.  Even if Justin wanted to speak at that moment, he was sure no words would come.  He had never felt anything like that kiss.  He had kissed boys before but this kiss had been something primal and predatory and profound.  Justin felt his heart pounding in his chest.  What the fuck came next?

Brian looked into Justin’s eyes studying the blue which had darkened to a deep sapphire as Justin’s lust took over.  Brian couldn’t help but smirk at the effect his kiss had on the young man.

Brian pulled Justin back against him and began to ravish the delicious mouth once again.  His hand on Justin’s back tugged at the plaid shirt that Justin was wearing over a T-shirt.  Brian dragged the shirt back and Justin dropped his arms to allow Brian to pull it down and off.  The kiss continued the whole time.

Justin did the same with the black shirt that Brian was wearing.  It disappeared as the kiss went on.  Then Brian’s hands were under Justin’s T-shirt forcing it up.  Justin did the same with the wifebeater that Brian wore.  As those pieces of clothing fell to the floor, Brian kissed Justin again, a little softer but still demanding.  He began to back Justin up towards the steps that led to the bedroom.

When Justin felt the bottom step hit the back of his leg, he broke the kiss.  He turned and grabbing Brian’s hand he climbed the steps.  They both knew what was coming and nothing was going to stop it.

Justin reached down and unbuttoned Brian’s jeans.  He shoved them down Brian’s long legs.  Brian kicked them away along with his boots when they hit the floor.  Justin slid his hands into the top of Brian’s thong and shoved it down.  The hard and throbbing cock sprang free.  A little moan escaped Justin’s lips as he dropped to his knees and took the member into his mouth.  He used everything he had ever learned from his sexual encounters to pleasure this man.  He heard Brian let out a guttural groan, and he expected Brian to shoot down his throat.  Instead he felt Brian pull away.  He immediately knew that he must have done something wrong, and he couldn’t look up at Brian.  He couldn’t face his failure.  He didn’t want to see disappointment on the handsome face.

Then unexpectedly he felt Brian’s hands go under his arms and pull him to his feet.  He looked into hazel eyes that stared back at him.  He wanted to ask what he had done wrong, but Brian thought he didn’t speak, and he intended to let him think that for as long as he was there.

“You were good,” Brian said, “but I don’t want to come that way.”  He explained as gently as he could.  “I want to be buried in your ass when that happens.”

Justin had to smile.  Somehow Brian had known what he was feeling, and had reassured him, using words that filled him with so much lust that he thought he might explode without touching his aching cock.  He so wanted to please Brian.  Brian took his hand and led him to the bed.

Abruptly Justin was shoved back onto the bed.  He felt his own jeans, underwear and sneakers yanked down and off.  He was naked as Brian lifted his legs so that he was lying fully on the bed.  Then Brian climbed on top of him, laying just enough of his weight atop Justin to make the boy feel warm and safe under the pressure.  Brian wrapped his fingers around strands of Justin’s long hair and nipped at Justin’s neck making Justin groan.  Justin’s hands went around Brian’s back wanting to hold him close.  This was better than anything he had ever experienced.

“Are you ready for me to be inside you?” Brian asked as he finished licking and nipping around Justin’s neck, shoulders and nipples.  The heat between them was palpable.

Justin’s eyes grew wide.  He wasn’t sure he was ready for that, but he also knew he wanted it.  He wanted to ask this man to be gentle, not to hurt him, but he had no voice, not one that he wanted to use anyway.

“I’ll take it easy,” Brian said.

Justin looked into Brian’s eyes, seeing sincerity there.  He meant what he said.  Justin nodded for him to continue.

“Turn over,” Brian ordered.

Justin shook his head.  He wanted to look at Brian as this happened.

“I need to get you ready,” Brian advised.

Justin frowned, but decided he liked the idea of Brian getting him ready.  He knew this was going to hurt, so maybe whatever Brian was going to do could make it easier and more pleasurable.  He turned onto his stomach.

“Have you ever been rimmed?” Brian asked.

Justin shook his head.  He had read about rimming but he had never had the opportunity to do it or have someone do it to him.  He was glad he had showered and cleaned himself before he left the club.

“I think you’ll like it,” Brian said.

Justin felt Brian’s tongue start at the nape of his neck and lick its way down his spine.  He shivered at the wonderful sensation.

“That’s just the beginning,” Brian whispered.

Justin felt Brian’s fingers spread the cheeks of his ass.  Then Brian blew gently across his anus.  Justin’s upper body rose up off the bed.  And then… And then…  And then something was pushing into his ass, something warm and flexible, but also firm and demanding.  Justin thought his cock would explode.  The sensations overwhelmed him and his breath came in raspy pants.  If this was part of what was going to happen, he couldn’t wait.

After a minute Justin relaxed and laid back down.  He let Brian’s tongue work its wonders on his body.  He felt Brian probe deeper and deeper, but he knew a tongue could only go so far.  A cock was a whole other issue, and Brian’s cock was a good size by any standard that Justin was aware of.  He shivered again in anticipation.

Suddenly Brian’s tongue began jabbing deeper and more fiercely.  Justin felt his cock swell even larger and he let out a mighty groan.  Brian jabbed once more holding his tongue as stiff as he could.  Justin rose up again and his dick shot its load all over the bed.

Once Justin recovered a little bit he turned his head to look at Brian.  He hoped his look portrayed the disappointment that he felt having come without Brian being inside him.  He was sure that was what they both wanted.  He hadn’t meant to come, he just couldn’t help it.

Brian looked into the disappointed blue eyes.  “It’s all right, Justin,” he said.  “I did that deliberately.”  Justin raised an eyebrow.  What the fuck did he mean?  “I knew you’d never make it through penetration with your dick in the state it was in.  Now you can relax.  I promise you’ll come again before I’m done.”

Justin felt a grin spread across his face.  This man could read his mind, he was sure of it.  He nodded his approval to this turn of events.

“Turn over,” Brian ordered.  “I want to look at you while we do this.”

Justin smiled again and did as Brian indicated.  They would be looking at each other.  That’s what he wanted too.

“Are you ready?” Brian asked.

Justin nodded, noting that Brian’s dick was still hard and ready for action.  He watched as Brian slid on a condom.  He grabbed a tube of what must be lube and squirted some into his hand.  He spread it over his cock.  He squirted some more into his hand.  He placed Justin’s legs up on his shoulders before he said, “Try to relax.  It will hurt a bit, but hopefully the pleasure to follow will make up for the pain.”

Justin nodded again.  He felt Brian’s lubed fingers probing his ass.  Brian inserted one finger and moved it around, stretching his entrance.  Justin felt his dick respond immediately.  He was sure it hadn’t been five minutes since he came before.  More fingers were probing his ass and he groaned loudly.

Brian decided that he was going to make Justin scream his name before he was finished.  The feral look that his face took on as he had this thought was not lost on Justin.  Justin knew there was no going back now, and he didn’t want to.  He was way too far into this to care.

Brian leaned in and kissed Justin passionately, eliciting heat from both of them.  When the kiss ended, he positioned his cock at Justin’s entrance and pushed forward.  Justin gasped and scrunched up his face in pain.  Brian stopped and waited hoping the pain on the face below him would recede quickly.  Soon the look of fear and pain faded and Justin gave a little smile.

“Ready for more?” Brian asked.

Justin nodded and felt Brian push farther in.  He grimaced a bit, but it didn’t hurt quite so much this time.  Brian gave Justin another minute to adjust to the fullness, and then he thrust forward imbedding himself up to his balls.  Justin grunted as he felt the stretch and burn.  Then he began to relax.  He wanted to enjoy this.

Brian waited knowing what Justin was going through.  When he felt the boy relax, he began to thrust slowly and not too deep.  He had promised to take it easy, and he intended to do just that.  He loved the feel of the tight muscles around Justin’s hole and the heat that surrounded his own cock.  He was going to enjoy every minute of this for as long as he could.

Brian’s thrusts deepened as he saw Justin’s pleasure build.  He worked his hips trying to hit the boy’s sweet spot as often as he could.  He felt sweat drip from his forehead.  He had maintained his erection for a long time and knew that this might be over soon.  His thrusts grew faster and deeper as he pushed himself to the limit.

Justin felt Brian punishing his body in a way that he had never thought possible.  As much as Brian’s entry into his body had hurt, the thrusts had become equally sweet and overpowering as the onslaught continued.  Justin’s breaths were short and raspy as his orgasm threatened once again.  He wanted to jerk off in time with Brian’s thrusts, but something told him to let nature take its course.  He wanted to come just from Brian’s cock inside his body.  He wanted this with every fiber of his being.  He grabbed the sheets and held on hoping he would still be alive at the end of this.  It felt like his whole body might explode or incinerate or melt.  He wasn’t sure which would be better, but any or all of them was coming.  He could feel it.

Brian paused for a moment, took a deep breath and then plowed on.  He knew he couldn’t delay his orgasm much longer, but he wanted Justin to come first.  He thrust deep and hard, then a series of short rapid strokes, then he pulled Justin’s body up a little higher and drove in as deep as he could possibly go.

Justin grabbed Brian’s arms and held on.  He felt jolts of pleasure race down his spine and then he was shooting – long and hard.

“Oh my fucking God, Brian!” he called out as the orgasm completely blew him apart.

Brian was right behind him with an orgasm that ripped through him and threatened to blow off the top of his head.

His final thought before everything went blank was, ‘I made him speak.’

Dumb Blond

Chapter 8




Brian groaned and opened an eye.  He was lying on top of something lumpy.  He looked down to see blond hair and pale skin beneath him.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he rolled away.

Justin mumbled something and tried unsuccessfully to open an eye.  Brian watched the eyelids flutter and knew Justin was coming back to reality.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Mmm,” Justin responded as one eye finally opened.  “Are we still alive?”

“I knew I could make you talk,” Brian said triumphantly with a smug grin all over his face.

Justin frowned.  He hadn’t even realized he had spoken.  What the fuck had this man done to him?  Whatever it was, Justin knew he had never felt anything like it.  A grin started to spread across his face as the events of the evening came back to him.  His skin tingled and he felt more alive than he had felt in a long, long time.  He had answered his own question.  He was definitely alive, very alive.  He could already feel a preliminary stirring in his loins.  How was that possible?

“You fucked me into speaking,” Justin conceded after a moment.  He watched the grin on Brian’s face grow bigger.

“That was my goal,” Brian stated.

“You’re an asshole.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“You’re not supposed to be proud of it.”

Brian shrugged.  “I’ve been called many things.  The names roll off my back.  Mostly their opinions don’t count.”

“And I suppose mine doesn’t count either,” Justin said.

“The only opinion that matters at the moment is what you thought about what we just did.”

“It … It was fucking awesome!”  Justin knew he sounded like a silly teenager, but he couldn’t contain himself.  It was fucking awesome.

Brian laughed out loud.  “Now that’s what I like to hear.”

“You are so arrogant,” Justin told him, but he knew that Brian had blown him away with the sex they had had.  He still wasn’t exactly sure that it had been real.  It was almost like someone else, someone new and different, was inside his skin.

“Not as arrogant as you might think,” Brian muttered more to himself than to Justin.

Justin heard a little bit of that but he got the gist.  He wondered why Brian would say such a thing.  He certainly gave the appearance of arrogance, but maybe it was all part of a façade that covered some other issues.  Whatever the reason, Justin could hardly believe that such a good looking, wealthy and successful man would feel uncertain about anything.  Although, Brian hadn’t said he was uncertain about anything, just that he wasn’t as arrogant as people might think.  Justin realized he was jumping to conclusions.

“Are you going to tell me now why you wouldn’t speak before?” Brian asked.

“No,” Justin replied.

“No?”

“No.”

Brian shrugged.  “Are you up for another one?”

Justin’s eyes got large.  Brian wanted to go again?  Justin wouldn’t have believed that they could do it again so soon, but Brian seemed sure.  “Okay,” Justin agreed.

Brian grinned.  This kid had spunk, as he had already proven by what he shot all over the bed.  He’d have to change the sheets before long, but they might as well make a colossal mess before they did that.

Turning over, Brian rolled atop Justin extending the length of his body on top of Justin.  Justin made no protest.  Instead Brian felt the boy’s cock spring to life and harden.  He liked that a lot.  His own dick was also thickening as he rutted against the body below.  Brian looked into the blue eyes that stared back with trust and care and … humor, fucking humor.  Brian almost giggled at the realization but he was able to stop himself.

“Something you find funny?” Brian asked.

Justin cleared his throat when he realized that Brian had realized that he was laughing inwardly.  “Yes.”

“Care to share?”

“Um … I probably shouldn’t say anything,” Justin said afraid of how Brian might interpret his words.

“Go ahead, say,” Brian ordered.  He was really curious now.

“I … um …. I was just thinking that I felt like shit when I got up this morning.  I wasn’t looking forward to anything.  And now…”

“Now?”

“Now I’m lying here … with you, enjoying every minute of what we’re doing.  I actually feel happy and that makes me … more happy.”

Brian laughed.  “You are a strange one,” he declared.

“So I’ve been told,” Justin said throwing Brian’s words back at him.

Brian placed his hands on each side of Justin’s face and propped himself up on his elbows.  He stared into the blue eyes that looked back at him, before he leaned in for a slow and gentle kiss that made them both harder than ever.

Brian felt Justin’s fingers slide into his hair, grab a handful and pull them closer together deepening the kiss.  This kid was no shrinking violet.  He knew what he wanted.  So did Brian.

“Turn over,” Brian whispered.

Justin rolled onto his stomach expecting to be rimmed again.  He was surprised when Brian put his arm beneath him and pulled him up and back so that he was on his hands and knees.  Justin felt Brian’s hard cock against his ass and knew that there was not going to be any rimming.  He heard the tear of a new condom packet and felt Brian force the head of his dick into his well stretched hole.

Justin let out a little whimper.  It still hurt.  Brian waited until he felt Justin lean back forcing his dick further in.  Brian smiled to himself as he pressed forward in response.  One more shove and he was home, up to the hilt in the best ass he had ever had.

Brian began to pump, going deep and hard.  Justin’s grunts told him that he was enjoying this position too.  Brian leaned down and nipped Justin’s neck, eliciting a moan and causing them to be forced even closer as Justin responded.  Brian felt Justin’s fingers reach for his hand.  He raised his hand and linked their fingers together.  Justin turned his head and smiled.  Brian took that opportunity for another sloppy kiss.  This kid was good.

Brian pumped harder and faster.  He realized he wasn’t going to last much longer.  He placed his one arm under Justin’s stomach and pulled Justin’s hips back with each thrust forward.  Justin’s groans told Brian that he was hitting the spot he was looking for.  So he continued his onslaught.

“Oh, fuck, Brian, fuck, fuck, FUCK!” Justin screamed as he came even harder than the last time.  Brian wasn’t far behind him as they collapsed exhausted on the bed.

Brian rolled away after a minute, leaving Justin feeling so empty and open.  He turned and looked into the caring hazel eyes.

“You okay?” Brian asked.

“Better than okay.”  Justin raised his head and placed a warm kiss on Brian’s lips.  He loved the way this man looked after sex, all hot and bothered and sweaty and relaxed.  He couldn’t think of anything he liked more, except maybe Brian’s cock up his ass.

They lay facing each other for a while, each studying the face of the other, looking for some sign of what would come next.

“I could use a shower,” Brian said finally.

“Yeah, me too,” Justin agreed.  He sniffed and was overwhelmed by the smell of sex that pervaded everything - himself, the bed, Brian.  It was so primal and intense.

“Let’s go,” Brian said taking Justin’s hand and pulling him up, then leading him into the bathroom.  He turned on the shower to let the water warm up.

“That’s a great shower,” Justin observed.

“Thanks.”

“Do you … um … ever ….?”

“Fuck in there?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.  He looked mildly amused as Justin blushed.  “It’s been known to happen.”

“Could we…?” Justin asked.  He liked the idea of fucking under warm water in such a big space.  His apartment often had no hot water, and what water did get to his floor was tepid at best.

“Isn’t your ass a little raw?” Brian asked trying to get a glimpse of Justin’s behind.

“It’s a bit sore, but I’ll be all right.”  Justin didn’t want to miss a minute of being with Brian and fucking and holding each other.  He had never had a better time in his whole life.

“I have some cream,” Brian said rummaging in a drawer in the vanity.  “Turn around and bend over.”

Justin did as instructed even though it was rather embarrassing to spread his ass cheeks like this without getting fucked.  He felt Brian’s fingers spread a cool cream over, around and into his hole.  It felt so cool and wonderful.

“That feels great,” Justin said.

“There’s nothing torn or too raw,” Brian said like a doctor who was an expert in assholes.  In fact he probably was, Justin said grinning to himself.  He kept his face turned away as Brian worked his magic.  “There that should feel better for now.  After we get some of this crusty mess off us, we can see if you think you’re up for another round.”

“I am,” Justin said confidently.

“Don’t you ever get enough?” Brian asked with a chuckle.

“Apparently you don’t either,” Justin replied noting that Brian’s cock had begun to stir when Justin said he was ready to go again.

“Have at it, my lad,” Brian said opening the shower door.

He waited till Justin had stepped in before following.  As soon as Brian closed the shower door, Justin attacked.  He grabbed Brian behind the neck and kissed him with every ounce of passion that he possessed.  He was sure he would never get enough of this man.  He had never met anyone as wonderful as Brian – anyone who was so good at sex, who could make him feel things he had never thought he would feel.  He stuck his tongue as far down Brian’s throat as he could get it.  He wanted Brian to understand how much he needed this.  This was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

When Justin finally ended the kiss they were both hard, warm water pouring over them, gradually washing away the remnants of their previous activities.  Brian turned Justin so he was facing the solid part of the glass in the shower.  Justin heard a condom being ripped open.  He was glad to hear that because he hadn’t even thought about protection when he stepped into the shower.  Brian seemed to be prepared for anything.

Brian shoved Justin’s head down a little forcing him to bend over so that Brian could enter him.  There was no waiting or careful preparation this time.  Brian pushed in forcing all breath from Justin’s lungs.  The pounding into his ass began hard, and grew harder and more forceful with each thrust.  Justin’s hands slid around on the glass of the shower as he tried to stay upright.  His head occasionally hit the glass as Brian drove into him again and again.  It didn’t hurt, in fact it made the whole sensation even more … exquisite.

Justin felt his cock straining and flopping around in front of him.  He would have liked to press it against the glass, increase the sensation that way, everything was sensation and more sensation.  Justin hoped it would never end.  He felt like he was on sensory overload.  He didn’t know what to do, so he surrendered himself to Brian’s actions and let nature take its course.

Justin felt the shockwaves race up and down his spine and knew he was going to shoot.  He hung on as long as he could before calling out Brian’s name once again.  He started to shoot and felt his ass contract around Brian’s cock.  He never wanted to let this man go.

Brian came long and hard.  He felt his body empty of strength and energy and strain.  He was exhausted, but sated and spent.  And yet, he felt like a million dollars.  Slowly he withdrew from Justin trying not to cause any more discomfort or irritation to the already overworked orifice.

Gently he turned Justin around.  The boy looked as out of it as he felt, completely exhausted yet somehow exhilarated.  Brian pulled the lithe young body against his own and held him tight.  Gradually they both began to regain some equilibrium.

When they could stand without leaning on each other, Brian gently pushed Justin back under the spray from the shower and handed him the soap.  Brian slipped off the very full condom and dropped it on the shower floor.  Justin took the soap and gently began to lather Brian’s chest.

Brian had to admit that he loved the feel of Justin’s hands caressing his chest as the boy washed him.  Brian took the soap and did the same for his young lover.  They stood under the water cleaning each other and exploring and caressing as they did so.

“I think we better get out before we turn into prunes,” Brian said after a long while.  “I think we can pass for clean.”

Justin laughed.  “I’ve never had a longer or … better shower.”

Brian smiled at him.  “I could say the same.”

That earned a big grin from Justin who turned around and shut off the water.  Brian opened the door of the shower and handed Justin a large fluffy towel from the rack in the bathroom.  They both began to dry off, all the while making note of what the other person was doing, how they dried themselves, how beautiful the exposed body parts looked.

Brian cleared his throat as he finished wiping his body.  “I should put some more of that cream on you.”

“Yeah,” Justin agreed.  “It felt great.”

He turned around ready once more for Brian’s gentle ministrations.  The man did not disappoint.  Justin felt like he could get used to being treated this way.

As Brian finished his job, the sound of a phone could be heard from the bedroom.

“That’s my cell,” Brian said.  “I better get it.”

Justin nodded and Brian left the bathroom.  Justin stood by the sink staring at the face in the mirror above it.  He hardly recognized the rosy, glowing face that revealed itself in the reflection.  Justin couldn’t remember when he had been so happy and fulfilled.  That was when he heard Brian’s raised voice from the other room.

“Mikey, calm down,” Brian was saying.  “What’s wrong?  When?  I’m kind of busy, but I can be there in about twenty minutes.  Just hang on.  I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Justin wondered who Mikey could be.  That was a term of affection.  Could it be Brian’s boyfriend or lover?  It must be someone important because Brian was going to get to him as quickly as possible.

“Justin,” Brian called, his voice containing an edge that Justin hadn’t heard before.

“Yes?”

“Something’s come up.  I have to go out.  Get dressed.”

“Um, sure,” Justin replied hanging the fluffy towel carefully on the rack.  “I’ll just grab my clothes.”

Justin walked out of the bathroom and began looking for his clothes which were all over the place.  He could see Brian pulling fresh clothes out of drawers and his closet.  Justin wished he had a fresh outfit to wear, but that was not the case, so he rounded up whatever of his clothes he could find.  His underwear seemed to have disappeared, so he quickly pulled on his jeans, T-shirt and plaid shirt.  He had trouble finding his shoes, and his socks seemed to have completely vanished.  Finally he found both shoes and slid them onto his bare feet.

Brian was already dressed and had gone into the bathroom to comb and fuss with his hair.  Apparently appearance was very important to his Brian.  Who was maybe not his Brian.

“Are you ready to go?” Brian asked as he came out of the bathroom.  “I’m in a hurry.”

“I’m ready,” Justin said giving up on finding his underwear.  He stuffed the one sock he had found into his jean pocket.

“Good,” Brian said heading for the door of the loft.  Justin followed feeling suddenly cut off from the man he had felt so close to only a few minutes ago.

Brian shoved up the gate on the elevator and they rode down.  “It’s late,” Brian said.  “The buses probably aren’t running any longer and I have to be somewhere, so here.”  Brian pressed a wad of bills into Justin’s hand.

“But…”

“Don’t argue.  I’ll call for a cab.  They’ll be here quickly,” Brian stated as he dialed and ordered a cab.  “Five minutes,” he said.

“Brian, I had a great time,” Justin said as they walked out of the building.

“Great.  The cab will be right along,” Brian said.  He walked down the street to where he had parked the Jeep.

“Yeah, I’ll be happy to wait for the cab … alone,” Justin muttered to himself.  He looked at the wad of money in his hand.

Just then the Jeep roared past him.  Brian didn’t even throw him a quick glance.

“And goodnight to you to,” Justin said.  He watched the lights of the Jeep disappear around the corner down the street.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 9




Justin paid the cab driver and began the long climb to the seventh floor and his apartment.  He didn’t recite his mantra on the way up.  He just trudged along not sure what he should be feeling or thinking.

He wondered if Brian was already with that Mikey person.  Maybe they were kissing and happy together.  Maybe Brian was treating him the way he had treated Justin, maybe better.  Justin let out a little gasp as he started the last flight of stairs.  It could have been a gasp for air, but if he was truthful with himself, it was a gasp of pain.  It hurt to have been turned away so abruptly after the time he and Brian had spent together.  It had been so special – at least to Justin it was special.  And it had seemed like it was special to Brian too, but maybe that was only an illusion.  Maybe when you were experienced like Brian was, it took someone more sophisticated and worldly than Justin to hold Brian’s interest – someone like this Mikey person.

Justin hauled himself up the last few steps and unlocked the door to his tiny apartment.  It was fucking hot inside even at four in the morning.  His window was open, but little air came in.  Justin closed and locked his door.  He looked around his little home and couldn’t help but compare it to Brian’s loft.  It suffered greatly in the comparison.

Justin pulled out the sofa bed, and drew back the sheets.  He slipped out of his clothes and lay naked on the old worn sheets.  He remembered the soft, delicious feel of Brian’s sheets.  They were expensive he was sure, but they were so worth it.  They made you feel cool just by touching them.

The memory brought Justin back to making love on those sheets.  They would be all sticky and crusty after their exploits.  Justin smiled as he remembered Brian saying he would need to change them.  He’d have to do that by himself now.

Justin heaved a sigh.  He could still feel Brian’s cock up his ass.  He had been so stretched and full.  It had hurt a lot at first, but then…  Justin tried to remember every detail, every feeling, every nuance.  He realized it was already fading a little bit from his memory.  That made him sad.  He knew he would always remember this night … and Brian, even if he never saw the man again.  He hoped Brian would ask to see him again, but he knew that would be very unlikely based on Brian’s one time only policy that Emmett had told him about.

Justin’s finger explored his anus feeling the soft ring of muscle.  He thought about the size of Brian’s dick pressing into it.  It still took his breath away.  Brian had been so gentle when he had rubbed that wonderful cream onto it.  Justin should have asked what the cream was.  It felt so great.

He brought his hand back around to his dick which had started to swell with his explorations behind.  His fist encircled it and he began to jerk off thinking of Brian and hazel eyes and hot kisses.

“AAAHHH!” Justin moaned as he came once again.

He wasn’t sure how many times it was possible to come in one night, but he was certainly testing how many times he could come.  He turned onto his stomach wiping his hand on the sheet.  He closed his eyes hoping he could sleep.  He just hoped the emptiness inside him would be gone when he awoke.

*****

“Michael,” Brian said as he came down the hallway in the hospital.  “How’s Ben doing?”

Michael shook his head.  “The doctors are in with him now.  He’s had some kind of bad reaction to his meds.  They’re trying to get it under control.”

“They will,” Brian said trying to sound confident.  He knew that all the drugs Michael's partner Ben took to keep his HIV in check took their toll on the human body.  Even though Ben was very fit, the side effects and the taxing of the liver from the drugs were always a worry.  He hoped the doctors could find some combination that would deal with the HIV without killing the patient.

Brian pulled Michael into a hug and held him close.  He felt Michael’s silent sobs as they stood in the hallway together.

“Thanks for coming,” Michael said when he got a grip on his emotions.  He pulled out of Brian’s embrace and wiped at his eyes.

“I’ll always come when you need me,” Brian affirmed.

*****

Justin awoke with a start.  He could see the sun shining in his little window.  He glanced at the alarm clock that sat on the kitchen counter.  It was almost eleven in the morning – Sunday morning.

He turned onto his back and looked up at the ceiling.  There was a dark spot where the roof had leaked at some point, who knew how long ago.  He stretched luxuriously.  He could still feel the effect of his activities from the previous night.  He had been so alive, so exhilarated, so … fulfilled.  It had been wonderful … while it lasted.

“I need to capture that feeling,” Justin said aloud.

He had an assignment due at PIFA.  He had started something that he wasn’t really happy with.  Maybe the feeling from last night was what he needed to recreate.  If he could do that, it would be awesome, just like the whole night had been … until Brian gave him a wad of money and sent him away.

Justin slid the sheet off his body.  There were crusty patches on the sheet and on him where he had jerked off the night before.  Images of Brian danced in his brain as he hauled himself up and into his tiny bathroom.  He definitely needed a shower, but it wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable as the one he had experienced at Brian’s loft.

*****

Brian unlocked the door to the loft and stepped inside.  The place looked much as it always did.  Brian yawned as he locked the door and walked to the kitchen.  He needed some water, not to counteract any drugs he had taken, but to wash away the taste of antiseptic and death.  That’s what hospitals always smelled like, and Allegheny General was no different.

Brian grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, turned the top and drank half the bottle in one go.  He was fucking tired.  Michael was exhausted, but he was still at the hospital.  Ben had finally come around about an hour ago.  Thank the gods that he did.  Michael was a fucking basket case thinking that his boyfriend was going to die.  Michael should have been more prepared for these kinds of episodes when he started dating an HIV positive man.  But this was Michael he was talking about – the man who always leaped before he looked, and thinking things through was not a part of his repertoire.  The man wore his heart on his sleeve and usually got it trampled as a result.  At least Ben seemed to love Michael back.  That was something to be thankful for.

Brian drank the rest of his water.  That made him feel a little better.  It was Sunday, thank the gods.  He could sleep the rest of the day if he wanted to, and at the moment that was exactly what he wanted to do.  He tossed the water bottle into the trash and walked towards the steps leading to the bedroom.

The distinct smell of sex assaulted his senses as soon as he climbed the steps to the bedroom of his loft.

“Shit,” he muttered.

He had meant to get the sheets changed after the marathon of sex he had had with the Dumb Blond ... Justin.  That had been some night.  Brian’s lips lifted at the corners.  A smile spread across his face.  It took a lot to wear him out sexually, but that kid had come close.  He was a natural.

Brian pulled the sheets from his bed.  He instinctively brought them closer to his nose for a final whiff before he tossed them into the hamper to be washed.  Some men he brought to the loft left an odor that was not very pleasant, and that was being kind.  Some of them positively stank.  The Dumb Blond smelled kind of … nice.  Brian frowned as he took another sniff of the sheets.  He must have damaged his olfactory organs from the formaldehyde and other chemicals at that fucking hospital.  Nobody smelled nice, especially on sheets that were crusted with jizz.  Brian stuffed them into the hamper and got fresh sheets from the linen closet.

While he made up the bed, Brian couldn’t stop his mind from going over the events of the previous night.  They had been quite spectacular, almost spectacular enough to want another go at it.  But that totally went against everything that Brian believed in.  One time only, that was his policy.  He needed to stop thinking about the blond and get some rest.  He smoothed out the sheets and shucked off his clothes.  He climbed in naked between the fresh sheets, letting out a little sigh of relief.

He closed his eyes and hoped for dreamless sleep.

*****

Justin was working in his space at PIFA.  He was painting like a fiend.  It was an abstract with colors of fire and desire and splendor.  He smiled to himself as he mixed another color.  When he got this one put on then he could concentrate on the image of Brian that went in the vortex at the center of his painting.  Somehow that was what he felt represented the man he spent last night with.

When he had started painting, he didn’t know what he was going to make.  He just knew that there were colors and shapes and emotions that he wanted to capture on canvas.  He was really happy with how the painting was going.

“Not bad, Taylor,” a voice said from behind him.

“Um, it’s not finished yet,” Justin replied.

“Well, don’t wreck it by overworking it,” the voice advised.

“When I want your advice, Botelli, I’ll ask for it,” Justin stated.

Mark Botelli laughed.  He knew he was a better artist than Justin Taylor, and he enjoyed pushing Justin’s buttons whenever the occasion arose.  He had to admit that Taylor’s canvas was striking, but the guy would probably screw it up before he was finished.

“Suit yourself,” Botelli said.  “I have work of my own to do.”

“Don’t wreck it by overworking it,” Justin couldn’t resist saying as Botelli walked away.  He went back to work on his canvas, knowing that he must have something pretty good for Botelli to even bother to comment on it.  Usually Botelli was too wrapped up in himself to notice what anyone else was doing.

Justin felt his heart soar as he worked his impression of Brian into the vortex.  Nobody would know what it was, except maybe Brian and him, but it held enough mystery and substance to attract attention.  Justin was elated with the result.

*****

The phone ringing awoke Brian.  He glanced at the clock to see that it was five in the afternoon.  He had slept away most of the day.  He stretched and popped his shoulder before picking up.

“What?” he snapped.

“Brian, it’s Michael.”

“Michael?  Did something happen to…?”

“No, no, Ben’s sleeping.”

“So was I.”

“Oh, sorry.  I wanted to let you know that he’s doing better.  They think he may be able to come home tomorrow.”

“That’s good,” Brian said.  “So why are you calling?”

“I … I just wanted to thank you for staying with me last night.  I was so scared.”

“I know, Mikey.  But you really need to prepare yourself.  With Ben’s medical history this may happen at any time.”  Brian wanted to warn his friend, and he wasn’t going to fucking sugar coat it.

“I know,” Michael said sadly.

“Do you really know, Michael?”

“Yeah, I do.  I really appreciate you coming to stay with me.  It made it … bearable.  I would have gone crazy all by myself.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Brian said using the trite old saying, or was it a song title?  Whatever.  But with Michael he meant those words.  “Did you get some sleep?”  Christ, Brian thought, he sounded like Michael’s fucking mother.

“You sound like Maw,” Michael advised him with a chuckle.

It was good to hear Michael laugh even a little bit after last night, Brian decided.  “Bite your fucking tongue,” Brian snapped, but there was no malice in his voice.

“Should I let you get back to sleep?”

“I’ve had enough sleep.  I need food.”

“Brian Kinney needs food?  Now I’ve heard everything,” Michael laughed.

“Go sit with your boyfriend,” Brian ordered before he cut the connection.

Brian threw back the sheets and got up.  He headed for the bathroom where he turned on the shower. Images of a blond head and lithe body pressed against the glass forced their way into his brain.  He shook himself and stepped inside the shower.

Five minutes later Brian had cleaned his body and his mind.  He had the plan for the rest of the day worked out.  He would go to the diner, get some greasy fries and a burger for dinner, drink a bit at Woody’s, maybe hustle some pool, and then he would find several likely prospects to suck his dick in the backroom of Babylon.  Yeah, that was a good plan.

*****

Justin placed his painting in his storage shelf at PIFA.  The shelves were large and wide so that they would hold several canvases or other pieces of art.  There was also enough room for air circulation so that the painting would dry.

His assignment wasn’t due until Wednesday, so he would be able to add any finishing touches as they might come to him.  He was very pleased with what he had been able to accomplish while he was in the studio today.  He was tired, but it was a good tired.  He had made something quite memorable out of a memorable adventure.  He had heard nothing from Brian, but the man didn’t know how to find him except through Club Emvic.

Justin made sure his painting was secure, before closing the door on the space.  He needed to get a move on so that he wouldn’t be late for his shift at the club.  He wondered if Brian would show up.  He certainly hoped so.

“Did you ruin the painting yet?” Botelli asked when Justin turned around from placing the combination lock on the mesh door of his space.

“Screw you!” Justin reacted making a face.

“You wish.”

“It might surprise you to know that I don’t wish.”

“Nothing would surprise me where you’re concerned, Taylor.  You’re pathetic.”

“Fuck off!”  Justin gathered his messenger bag and quickly left the building.  He didn’t want to hear any more of Botelli’s derogatory remarks.

He caught his bus and made it to Club Emvic on time.  He danced three times that evening, each time hoping that he would see Brian sitting ringside when he came out to perform.

It was not to be.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 10




Monday morning Brian was a little later than usual getting to the office.  The end of his weekend had taken a bit of a toll.  He had spent a lot of time in the backrooms, and got very little sleep.  Many members of his staff were already at work when he walked in.

“Morning, Boss,” Cynthia said as she walked with him to his office.

Brian nodded but said nothing.  He was a little hung over, but nobody needed to know about his exploits of the previous night.

“I checked around about that post-it note and nobody seems to know anything about it,” Cynthia informed him.

“Or they’re not saying,” Brian added.

“I just don’t get why no one wants to take credit.”

“Me either.”  Brian set his coffee down on the desk and dropped his briefcase to the floor beside the desk.  “Is Ted in?”

“Yes, do you want him?”

“Give me a couple of minutes to get organized then send him in.”

“Sure, Boss.”  Cynthia left the office.

Brian picked up his briefcase, laid it on the desk and snapped it open.  He pulled out a couple of folders and laid them out on the desk before closing the briefcase and replacing it beside his desk.

He walked around the desk and sat down in his big chair.  He closed his eyes for a moment and thought about everything he needed to do that day.

“Boss?”

Brian opened his eyes.  “Theodore, nice of you to join me.”

“I was summoned,” Ted replied lamely.

“Are the Fluke contracts all in order?”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Draw up a new contract for Eyeconics,” Brian ordered.  “They’ll be in tomorrow morning at ten to see the new campaign.”

“Okay,” Ted said.  “Usual fees?”

Brian nodded, but said no more.  Ted waited.  It seemed like Brian wasn’t through with him just yet.  Ted was about to turn and leave when Brian finally spoke.

“Have you been to Vic and Emmett’s club?”

Ted was startled.  “Yeah, I went to the opening.”

“What did you think of it?”

“Um…”

“The truth, Theodore.”

“I thought it was okay.”

“Okay?  That’s hardly a ringing endorsement.”

Ted shrugged.  He wasn’t sure what else to say.  “I didn’t think it was anything … special,” he finally added after Brian continued to stare at him demanding an explanation.

“Yeah, I didn’t think it was anything special either,” Brian stated.

“You went?”

“Yes, Friday night.”

“That would please them,” Ted said gently.  He knew they had been hurt when Brian didn’t show up for the opening.

“They were thrilled,” Brian said sarcastically as he remembered his less than enthusiastic welcome.

“Um … so, you didn’t think the club was that great either?”

“No, and I told them that.  There was only one thing that made the evening worthwhile,” Brian added wanting to get Ted’s reaction.

“What was that?” Ted asked on cue.

“I was wondering if you might have found the same thing to be … worthwhile,” Brian said enigmatically.  He stared into Ted’s eyes.

“The Dumb Blond,” Ted murmured.

“What did you say?”

“The star act at the club,” Ted said.  “He was definitely the best thing in the whole place.”

“I didn’t know you had such good taste, Theodore.”

Ted blinked as he looked at Brian.  “You liked him too?”

“He was … all right,” Brian stated.

“Too bad they couldn’t find a couple more acts just like that.”

“I bet they’re not that easy to come by.”

“No, probably not,” Ted agreed.

“I’m going to be out at meetings all afternoon, so you’ll have to check the Eyeconics ads and get them set up for the meeting tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sure, Boss.”

“Leave the Fluke boards to the side.  They’re great, and it won’t hurt that the Eyeconics people see them.”  Brian rubbed his eyes as he finished speaking then he squeezed the bridge of his nose.

“Are you okay?  You look a little rough,” Ted said gently.  He hoped he wasn’t overstepping.

“I’m fucking fine.”

“Sure, Boss, just asking.”

“Get to work on those Eyeconics contracts,” Brian ordered.

Ted nodded and turned to leave.

“Ted, I gave Vic and Emmett some advice about advertising their club.  You might want to follow up with them if you have a chance.”

Ted had not turned back to face Brian.  He knew instinctively that Brian would not like that.  He smiled to himself, secretly pleased that Brian was trying to help their friends.  “I’ll check it out,” Ted said before he continued on out of the office.

Brian watched his friend and CFO leave the office.  He hoped Ted would convince Emmett and Vic to advertise in places more likely to attract the demographics they were looking for.  He wanted the club to succeed.  He wanted his friends to succeed.

*****

Justin got off the bus and walked quickly towards the alley that led to his janitorial job.  He liked working at this company.  The offices were sleek and modern even though they were in an old building.  Whoever had redesigned it had done a great job of keeping some of the old attributes while making it sexy and chic.  He found all the graphics and advertising posters spread out through the company stimulating.  He thought about his painting drying in his space at PIFA.  It was really good.  Deep inside himself he knew it was something special.  He smiled as he saw Joe standing by his van waiting for him.

“Hey,” Justin said as he approached.

“’Bout time you got here,” Joe said with a big grin.

“Have you been waiting long?” Justin asked with a worried frown.  He was making good money at Club Emvic, but he needed this job too.  Having been late last Friday, he didn’t want to keep Joe waiting for him again.

“Naw, I’m just yankin’ your chain.  Got here a couple of minutes ago,” Joe responded.  “Let’s get to work.”

Justin smiled, broader than usual.  Joe gave him a strange look before unlocking the front door of the business.  He and Justin entered.  Joe hauled his big polisher inside, and then locked the door behind them.

“Want me to start in the usual place?” Justin asked cheerfully.

“Yeah.”

Justin went down the hall to get started on the men’s restroom.  Joe watched the young man till he disappeared around a corner.  There was something different about Justin tonight.  Joe wasn’t sure what it was, but he decided he’d find out at break.  He started up his floor polisher and got to work in the main foyer.

Justin was finishing the sinks in the men’s room.  He was lost in thought as he did his rather mindless job.  He was thinking about green eyes and strong muscles and a big dick.  He giggled out loud.  He had never felt so alive … not in as long as he could remember.  Even though Brian hadn’t come to the club on Sunday, Justin was happy with the night they had spent together.  He had almost reconciled himself to the fact that he would never see Brian again.  Even if Brian came to the club, it would be to see his friends, not to see him.  Justin knew Brian was out of his league, but that didn’t change the joy he had felt when they were together.  That feeling made their night together worthwhile and would sustain him for the foreseeable future.  It felt good to be happy, even though Brian had blown him off at the end.

Justin shook himself.  He probably should be disappointed that his life was back to its normal, mundane state, but a night of ecstasy with Brian was not something to be sneezed at.  He would never forget it.

“Justin!  Break time.”

“Huh,” Justin said aloud breaking out of his thoughts.  “Coming,” he called to Joe.

Joe had brought chicken rice soup this evening.  It was delicious like all Lydia’s cooking.  They ate in silence for a few minutes.

“Your wife makes the best soup in the whole world,” Justin declared as he got the last bits from his mug.

Joe laughed.  “You should come for dinner one night.  Lydia would love to cook for you.  She’d make something other than soup.”

“I could live on her soup all day every day,” Justin said as he picked up his mug and Joe’s and took them to the sink.  He filled them with water to be washed up later.  “What kind of sandwich have we got tonight?” Justin asked with a grin.

“Chicken salad,” Joe replied.

“No ham?”  Justin chuckled as he took his portion of the sandwich.

“Not today.  When Lydia has chicken we get chicken in everything for a couple of days,” Joe stated taking a big bite out of his sandwich.  He watched Justin attack his sandwich with gusto.  “You’re in a good mood tonight,” Joe observed then waited for Justin’s reaction.

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“What caused this good humor?”

“I … I had a … date on Saturday night.”  Justin knew that calling what he and Brian had done a date was not exactly true.  But it had seemed like a date to him in many ways.  Brian had been kind and considerate just like a good date should.

“Who is he?” Joe asked.

Justin stared at his boss.  They had never discussed his sexuality.  He liked to believe that he wasn’t too obvious about his inclinations.  “How did you know?”

“I didn’t, but it was a logical guess.  You just confirmed it.”

“Um, does it matter to you?” Justin asked carefully.  He still needed this job.

“Why should it?  If you do your work properly, and you do, your sexual orientation makes no difference,” Joe stated.

Justin breathed a sigh of relief.  “Not everybody feels that way.”

“Sounds like you’ve had some experience with intolerance,” Joe guessed.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Justin admitted.

“Care to tell me about it?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay, maybe another time.  I am a good listener.”

“I know you are,” Justin agreed.

“So how was your date?”

“Great!” Justin gushed.

“You going to see him again?”

“Um, not likely,” Justin admitted with a frown.

“If it was so great, why not?” Joe wanted to know.

“I, um, think he might have a boyfriend.”

“That’s not good,” Joe said shaking his head.

“We had a great time till he got a phone call from some guy named Mikey.  Then he took off in a big hurry.  He never mentioned seeing me again, so I don’t think that’s likely to happen.” Justin admitted to Joe and also to himself.

“What kind of a name is Mikey?” Joe asked.  “Sounds like a baby name.”

“Yeah,” Justin said with a laugh.  “Mikey has perfect timing though, at least for him.”

“That’s too bad.  It sounds like you really liked this guy.”

“I did, and I think he liked me too.”

They had just about finished their sandwiches.  They continued eating in silence.  When they were finished, Justin said he would clean up while Joe went back to what he was doing.  Justin thought about Brian while he was washing up the mugs they had used.  He concluded that it was probably best to forget about Brian, just keep him as a glorious memory and a striking piece of art.

*****

Justin finished the restroom off the main office.  He took a sniff of his favorite cologne before leaving the room with a last swipe to the counter.  He loved the smell of that scent … almost as much as he loved the smell of … Brian.  Now that he thought about it, Brian could have been wearing that scent.  He had smelled great.  But then, everything about Brian was great.  And Justin’s senses had been on such overload that he would be hard pressed to define anything specific about Brian that night … other than how great he was.  Maybe all rich men like the owner of this company wore that scent – Baldessarini.  Justin didn’t think he would ever forget that wonderful smell, long after he had stopped working for Joe, and his memory of Brian had faded.

Walking out of the restroom, Justin looked at the boards that were lined up on one side of the big table.  They were the ones he had seen on Friday night, but they seemed different.  He walked over to them and a big smile creased his face.

“They used it!” Justin said triumphantly, speaking softly but out loud.

He looked the boards over noting that the new slogan that he had written on a post-it note was now emblazoned across them all.  Then he saw the post-it note stuck to the side of the middle board.  He pulled it off and read:

Whoever wrote that slogan, you have a career in advertising.  It was just what this ad campaign needed.  Get in touch with me.  I’ll make it worth your while.
BK

Justin read the note again.  He wondered what “make it worth your while” meant.  He scrunched up the note and stuck it in his pocket.  He wasn’t really interested in advertising as a career, even though he always thought he’d be pretty good at it.  Maybe this firm would give him a job if he contacted this BK person.  But he couldn’t really take a job right now.  He wanted to finish his year at PIFA.  Besides, one slogan didn’t make you an advertising genius.  That would be just too easy, and Justin’s life was anything but easy.

Turning around to go dust the big desk in the office, Justin noticed the other boards that now stood across from him.  They would be what someone entering the office would notice first.  They were for a company called Eyeconics, and they were great looking boards.  There wasn’t anything he would change about them, except maybe the blue should be purple, but that was a minor thing.  He considered leaving another note but decided against it.

He started dusting the big desk and replacing every item right where it had previously been.  Joe had stressed to him how important that was.  Many executives liked their daily items to be located exactly where they always grabbed them.  Any variation in that might cause them to complain.

When Justin was almost finished dusting the desk, he moved the post-it note dispenser, the last thing he would touch on the desk.  He replaced it after he had wiped the area beneath it.

Thoughtfully he turned and looked at the Eyeconics boards.  They would be better with purple than blue.  He pulled a post-it from the dispenser and quickly wrote a note saying what he thought about the colors.  He walked over to the boards and stuck the note to the edge of the middle board.  He wondered if this BK would guess it was the same person making this suggestion.

Justin had a big grin on his face as he gathered up his cleaning equipment.  He kind of liked this game.  It was good for his brain and his confidence.  He wondered if they would use this idea too.

He actually felt like whistling as he left the office and went to look for Joe.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 11




Brian sat down at his desk at Kinnetik.  He had spent yesterday afternoon schmoozing a new customer, and he had been victorious.  He snapped open his briefcase and pulled out the papers that had been signed with the new client.  Ted could make the final arrangements.  Brian had made the deal.

The new client was an up and coming cosmetics company called Blush.  They were mainly in the northeast and were looking to expand throughout the United States with the potential of going international in the not too distant future.  Brian had liked the CEO.  She was a smart, savvy businesswoman.  Brian could see her taking the company far, especially with Brian’s help.  It would be a lucrative deal for both of them.

Brian glanced at the clock on the wall.  He was in early.  It was not yet seven a.m.  Soon his employees would be dribbling in.  Cynthia should arrive any minute.  She would be surprised that he was already there.  He had been coming in later ever since…

Brian refused to complete that sentence.  He would not think about the Dumb Blond.  Shit!  He was thinking about him.

Brian shook his head.  The whole situation was ridiculous.  Brian Kinney was a loner.  He fucked whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted.  He had had Justin whatever his name was, and that was done.  It was over.  He needed to get on with his life.

He stood up and walked over to the Eyeconics boards.  He had come in early because something had been bothering him about the boards.  He thought he knew what it was.  He studied the first board carefully.  He knew he was right.  He walked over to his phone and dialed the art department.

“Yes, Boss,” Mick’s familiar voice said.

“Good, you’re here,” Brian said.  “Come to my office.  I need you.”

The line went dead and Brian knew the artist was on his way.  Mick entered the office moments later and waited for Brian to explain what he wanted.

“I want you to make up another set of these boards but change all the blue to purple,” Brian instructed.

“What purple?”

Brian explained the color he had in mind.  “When you’re done, bring them here and we’ll see which looks better.”

“Right,” Mick replied and headed out the door.

Brian watched him go before going back to his desk.  He had just sat down when Cynthia appeared to go over the schedule for the day with him.  He gave her the good news about the new client.  They discussed the presentation for Eyeconics and Brian told her about the changes in the colors that Mick was working on.  She seemed to like the idea.

Brian asked her to send Ted in when he arrived.  Then he got to work on his preliminary ideas for the Blush account.

“Boss?” Ted said from the doorway a little while later.

Brian looked up from his computer.  “Enter.”

“I hear we have a new client.”  Ted sat down in the chair across the desk from Brian.

Brian nodded.  He handed Ted the contracts that had been signed the day before.  Ted flipped through them.  “Have you got the Eyeconics contracts ready?” Brian asked after a minute or two.

“Yes, got them ready before I left yesterday.”

“Good.  I want this deal signed, sealed and delivered before the Eyeconics people leave the building.”

“How did you like the boards?” Ted asked as he turned to look at them.

“They were okay,” Brian replied.  “Mick’s changing one of the colors as we speak.”

“Oh?  I thought they looked great.”

“That’s why you don’t run this company,” Brian said tersely.

“Point taken.  Anything else?”

“I’d like you to sit in on the Eyeconics meeting.”

“Okay.”

Just then Mick appeared with an armload of boards.  Brian waved him in.  “I made the changes,” he said as he carried them over to the easels.  “I think they look great.”

Brian smirked just a little bit.  He knew he had a good eye.  He hoped he liked the changes as much as Mick seemed to like them.  He wanted to hear what Ted thought as well.

“Cynthia, come in here,” he said into his phone.

Mick was setting the Fluke boards on the floor and placing the Eyeconics boards side by side so that they matched up and the color change would be most evident.  He saw the note on one of the boards with the blue color.  He pulled the post-it off before setting its purple mate beside it.  They all stood back and looked at the boards, noting how they compared to each other.

“The purple is the one,” Cynthia said immediately.

“I like it better too,” Ted agreed, “even though I don’t have the eye the rest of you do, and I don’t run the company.”  Ted looked over at Brian and saw the smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

“I already said I like the purple the best,” Mick affirmed.  “Good call, Boss.”  He was playing with the post-it note that he had pulled off the Eyeconics board.  “Here’s your note,” Mick said, handing it to Brian.

Brian frowned as he took the note.  “Didn’t this come off the Fluke board?” he asked.  Mick shook his head.  Brian looked more closely at the note thinking it was the one he had placed on the Fluke board.  This note said:

Maybe a different color, like purple instead of the blue.

“Where the fuck did this come from?” Brian demanded.  “I didn’t write this.  I’ve never seen it before.”

“Sorry, Boss,” Mick said.  “I just thought you had when it was what you asked me to change.”

“This looks like the same writing as the note that was on the Fluke ads,” Brian said studying the post-it carefully.  “And it’s not my handwriting.”

Cynthia was looking over his shoulder.  “It sure isn’t.  This is much more legible,” she observed.

“Thanks a bunch,” Brian reacted.  “I’ve still got the note from the Fluke boards,” he said walking to his desk.  He pulled open the top drawer and held the two notes side by side.  “I’m no handwriting expert, but these are the same.”

“So who the hell is doing this?” Cynthia asked.

“Nobody will admit to it,” Ted supplied.

“I don’t think it’s anybody from the art department,” Mick said.

“It’s someone who can read my mind,” Brian said softly.  “I never even saw this note.  I asked for those changes because I thought the boards would look better.”

“This is the craziest thing,” Cynthia said.  “I just don’t get how this is happening.”

“That makes two of us,” Ted agreed.

“Fuck!” Brian said.  “We don’t have time to stand around discussing this.  Get to work, and let’s hope the Eyeconics people also like the changes.  Mick, take the old boards and dispose of them.  Put the Fluke boards back up so the Eyeconics people can see them.”

“I’ll help you, Mick,” Cynthia offered as they went to rearrange the boards.

“And I’ll get back to work,” Ted offered.

“If only we knew what you did around here,” Brian said without looking at Ted.

Ted chuckled as he left the office.  He knew Brian was concerned about these messages, and truth be told, so was he.  Someone had access to Brian’s office.

*****

Brian walked over to the Eyeconics display and moved one of the easels ever so slightly.  The Eyeconics people would be there any minute.  He wanted everything perfect.  Brian looked back and forth between the Eyeconics boards and the Fluke boards.  They were very different but they were both excellent.

This business with the sticky notes being left on the boards was really bothering Brian.  He wanted to know who was behind the suggestions.  Whoever it was was an advertising up and comer.  Brian wasn’t ready to use the word genius to describe him, but he was certainly very clever and had an excellent eye for color.

Brian studied the Fluke boards and suddenly realized that his note to this creative prodigy was no longer attached to the board.  Had Mick removed it?  Or had the person who left this new message taken it off the Fluke board?  Brian thought it was probably the latter.

Who the fuck was doing this?

*****

Justin stood back and studied his painting.  It was awesome, if he did say so himself.  The only thing he had decided to add was a small and rather abstract profile of Brian’s head.  Nobody would probably recognize it except himself and Brian.  But that was okay.  The painting was his feelings.  It wasn’t important that anyone else really understand it.  Justin hoped what they would see, or rather feel, when they looked at the painting was the intensity of emotion, the passion, the heat.

“Sizzling!”

“Huh?” Justin responded without turning around.

“I could almost believe that you have some talent, Taylor,” Mark commented snidely as he studied Justin’s painting.

“Jealous much?” Justin asked in his own sarcastic way.

“Of you?  Never!”

“Then why bother saying anything?” Justin queried.  It would have been easier to ignore Justin’s work than comment on it.

“I give credit where credit is due,” Mark stated.  “This isn’t half bad.”

Justin smiled just a bit.  “Thanks.  I really like it too.”

“And you didn’t wreck it by playing around with it too much.  It is finished. Isn’t it?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, I think it’s perfect the way it is.”

“Hm, so what inspired it?” Mark questioned.

“Um, just came to me,” Justin said not wanting to reveal anything about his relationship with Brian.  Who was he kidding?  His non-relationship with Brian.  His fuck with Brian.  Make that his multiple fucks with Brian.  Justin felt the smile spread across his face.

“You met someone,” Mark declared.

“None of your business.”

Mark laughed.  “I bet you even believe in love.  How sweet!”

“Shut the fuck up, and go look at your own pathetic work,” Justin said being as nasty as he could be.  He hated being teased.  And he didn’t want to admit, certainly not to Mark, that he did believe in love.  His thoughts went immediately to Brian.  He shook his head telling himself that he had to stop this.  He didn’t love Brian, maybe lusted after him, maybe adored the way Brian had made him feel, but he couldn’t love someone he barely knew … could he?  He had a life and things to do.  Brian was a memory, a wonderful memory nonetheless, and that’s probably what he would always remain.  No probably about it – that’s what Brian would always be.  As much as Justin fantasized about more encounters with Brian, that was unlikely to happen.  There was no future there, Justin told himself.  If only his heart would accept that.

Mark laughed as he walked away.  He enjoyed getting Taylor’s goat.  But he did have to admit that painting of his was stunning.

*****

Brian snapped his briefcase closed and leaned back in his chair.  Almost everybody was gone from Kinnetik.  He had been finishing up the last part of his campaign for Blush.  The ideas would go to creative in the morning, and he should have some potential ads to look at by tomorrow afternoon.  The ideas had been flowing unrestricted while he worked on the campaign.  Brian loved it when that happened.  It hadn’t been like that when he was working on the Fluke campaign.

Immediately Brian thought about the slogan that had probably saved their bacon on the Fluke campaign.  He really wanted to know who was responsible for that.  It bugged him that no one seemed to know.  He believed his employees that they didn’t know the source, but the whole incident was so strange that it kind of unnerved him.  Who could be in his office when he wasn’t there … leaving these messages, brilliant messages?

Brian picked up his briefcase and was about to leave the office when a thought occurred to him.  He went back to the desk and grabbed a post-it note and a pen.  He wrote:

How do you like the purple?  I had already thought of changing that before I saw your message.  Contact me.  BK

He placed it on one of the Eyeconics boards with the purple colors.  He wondered if he would get a reply.  So far whoever was doing this was ignoring the “contact me” part of his messages.  All he was getting was suggestions for improvements.

Brian walked out of his office wondering if he would hear more from this unknown advertising prodigy.

*****

Wednesday morning there was no response to Brian’s message.  He left the note stuck to the poster.

Thursday morning when he arrived he glanced at the boards thinking the note would still be there.  There was a note on the Eyeconics board, but it wasn’t in the same place where Brian had placed his.  Brian set down his briefcase and went to check if he was right.

The post-it read:

Love the color.  So much better.  You have a great eye.

Brian smiled.  This person didn’t dispute that Brian had had the same idea about the color.  He or she merely complimented him.  Brian was impressed at the lack of ego involved in that statement.  The person who wrote it had talent and innate understanding of art, but also was generous and gave credit where credit was due.  Brian thought he could like this person.

He grabbed a post-it and wrote:

Like me you have a great eye and a quick wit too.  Come work for me.  BK

He hesitated for a second, wondering if he should offer a job to an unknown.  Then he took a deep breath and stuck the note on the board in a different location so that whoever placed the original there would notice the change.

The note was still there the next day.  Brian wondered if he had pushed too hard.  But why wouldn’t this person want to work at Kinnetik.  It was a great company.  It offered a future that was unlimited for whoever was coming up with these advertising gems.

Brian was about to rip the note off the board and throw it away.  The person he was writing to obviously wasn’t interested in a job.  Maybe he should forget the whole thing.  The trouble was that he didn’t seem to be able to forget about whoever was doing this.  He decided to leave the note where it was.

Friday morning there was no reply to his message.  It had become his custom to check if the note was in the same place every morning.  It was one of the first things he did when he got to the office.

The post-it was in the same place he had put it.  He went over to check that it was his note, hoping that it might be an affirmative reply to his offer.  His own words stared back at him.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 12





Brian spent his weekend fucking and drinking.  He wanted to blow off some steam and the backrooms at Woody’s and Babylon provided that.  Two nagging thoughts dogged him all through his marathon of fucking.  Who was writing those notes?  Should he try to see the Dumb Blond one more time?  He didn’t really want to deal with either of those thoughts, but he knew deep inside that he should.  His lost weekend didn’t make him feel any better when he went into Kinnetik on Monday morning.

As usual he glanced over at the Eyeconics boards.  He saw a post-it note near the top.  That was not where he had placed his message.  He dropped his briefcase on the desk and went over to the boards.

The new message read:

We both have a great eye.  A quick wit?  I’m not so sure.  I haven’t met you yet.

Brian snorted and then chuckled out loud.  He had to meet whoever was doing this.

Brian grabbed a post-it and quickly wrote:

I haven’t met you yet either, but not for lack of trying.  Contact me, Mr. Quick Wit.  BK

He stuck it on the lower portion of the board wondering if this note would get any better results.

*****

Justin stood beside his painting which was on an easel in the open space of the art department.  Each student in his class was doing the same thing.  This was their evaluation session with each other and with the professor.  Four other students had gone already, getting some constructive criticism about their work.  Justin had to admit that he wasn’t all that impressed with any of their paintings.

Now it was Mark Botelli’s turn, and then him.  Mark’s painting was quite striking – all angles and piercing shards.  Justin thought it was quite wonderful.  Even though he detested Mark and his wise ass comments, Justin had to admit that the guy had talent.

“Some of those sharp pieces feel like they could rip you to shreds,” Justin commented.  “The painting is very powerful, cutting.  It captures the feeling of danger and fear.”

“Glad you can recognize real talent,” Mark whispered to Justin.

Justin almost regretted what he had said about Mark’s painting, but he also knew that his words were the truth.  He merely smiled at his fellow student.  Mark stared at him for a moment before looking away.

“Interesting,” the professor said as Justin finished.  “I would have to agree.  Very powerful, Mr. Botelli.  Well done!”

“Thank you,” Mark said to the professor.  Mark glanced at Justin who was looking at the professor as she walked over to his painting.

A couple of students commented that they loved the color combination of Justin’s painting.  Another student said she could feel the emotional intensity that the painting seemed to represent.  Justin was pleased.

Mark cleared his throat like he was about to speak.  Justin cringed inside.  Mark could be so caustic with his comments.  Justin braced himself against what he was sure would be a verbal onslaught.

“I think this is the best thing Taylor has created so far,” Mark began.

Some of the students nodded.  Justin waited knowing that the zinger was likely coming in Mark’s next words.

“I advised him not to overwork his canvas,” Mark explained.  Justin shook his head knowing that Mark was indirectly taking credit for Justin’s work.  He couldn’t believe the gall of the guy.  “For once he listened to me.”  Several students chuckled, while some others snorted knowing only too well about Mark’s oversized ego.  “This painting has such power and emotion.  It’s all heat and passion.  I can’t think of another abstract that I’ve seen that can evoke such a powerful response, except of course my own.”

There was some laughter at Mark’s self- aggrandizement.  He was a horse’s ass most of the time, but they all knew he usually spoke the truth too.

Justin looked at Mark then.  Had he just heard a ringing endorsement of his painting even if it was with an uncalled for remark tacked on the end of it?

“I would have to agree with you, Mr. Botelli,” the professor said.  “This is a most wonderful piece, excellent color choices and great depth of feeling.  Well done, Mr. Taylor.”

Justin’s smile was radiant as he heard his professor’s praise.  It almost made all his struggle and hard work seem worthwhile.  This was why he painted – to evoke emotion and understanding from the viewer.

“Thank you, Professor Martin,” Justin said suddenly feeling humble.

There was one more student who presented her painting, but the whole thing was a blur to Justin.  All he could think about were the professor’s words of praise.  He had received good comments before but nothing like this.  And nothing based on a painting that meant so much to him.

*****

Monday evening Justin went to his job with Joe.  He was feeling great about the feedback on his painting and he told Joe all about it over their break.  Joe was pleased for the lad and stated that he wished he could see the painting.  It sounded beautiful.

Justin smiled when Joe told him that.  Most people would think someone who ran an office cleaning service would hardly be interested in art.  But Justin had quickly learned that there was a lot more to Joe than first appearances would lead you to believe.  Joe read several newspapers every day and was up to date on all current events.  He and his wife went to museums and art shows.  They went to the theater occasionally when there was something they really wanted to see.  Joe was a very well rounded man.

“You should bring Lydia to PIFA one day when I’m there.  I’ll show you my space and you could see the painting,” Justin suggested.

“I’d like that,” Joe said with a warm smile.  “I’ll check with Lydia, and maybe we can work out something so that happens.”

“That would be great,” Justin replied.  Joe was as close to a family as Justin currently had, so having him come to PIFA would be really nice.

Joe studied his young employee.  Justin had seemed happy lately.  He wondered if that happiness had to do with the man that Justin had met.  “Are you and your man still seeing each other?” Joe asked.

Justin made a face and shook his head.  “Naw, it didn’t work out,” Justin said barely above a whisper.

“That’s too bad.  He seemed to make you really happy.”

Justin thought about that for a minute.  “He did, but he was from a whole different world.  He has money and he’s gorgeous.”

“You ain’t so bad looking yourself,” Joe declared making Justin blush.  “Just sayin’.”

Justin chuckled.  “Thanks, but don’t tell Lydia.  She might not like us being together three nights a week.”

Joe guffawed.  “She’s happy to have me out of her hair for a while when I’m working.”

“Well tell her tonight’s soup was especially good,” Justin said starting to clean up their dishes.

“I will.  She loves to hear how great her cooking is.”

“She’s the best.”

“Darn tootin’.”

While Joe went back to work on his offices, Justin cleaned up and headed for the big office at the front of the building.  He always ended his work in that space.  He could get a whiff of Baldessarini and see if there was a message for him tonight.  He was quite enjoying the anonymous repartee with BK, who must be someone important in the advertising agency.  It almost sounded like he was being offered a job by this guy, but Justin had his future mapped out and he didn’t plan to deviate from that, especially when he might be communicating with some flunky who had no real power at all.

Justin hurried into the office and over to the boards.  The Eyeconics ads with the purple colors still sat on the easels across from the Fluke boards.  Justin always felt proud when he saw his slogan staring back at him from the Fluke boards.  He thought they all looked great.  His heart jumped when he saw a post-it in the lower half of the first board.  It must be a new one.  His heart skipped a beat as he reached for the note.  He wondered what it would say.

I haven’t met you yet either, but not for lack of trying.  Contact me, Mr. Quick Wit.  BK

Justin chuckled to himself.  He liked being called Mr. Quick Wit.  That appealed to him.  BK wanted him to contact him.  He was agreeable to this kind of contact but he wasn’t going to actually speak to the man.  He needed to think up a good but non-committal response to the note.  He enjoyed this game they were playing and the right note would keep it going.

Justin got to work.  While he cleaned and dusted he was thinking about how to reply to the note.  He took a sniff of the Baldessarini after finishing the restroom.  And then it hit him – how to reply to the note.

Are you the person who wears Baldessarini?  I love that scent.  You should do an ad campaign for it.

Justin stuck the post-it on the board and went to dust the big desk.  That was always his last job of the night.  Then he could go home and get some sleep.

“Justin, you done?” Joe called from the hall.

“Yeah, I’ll be right out.”  Justin took a last look around before picking up his cleaning supplies and leaving the office.

As they rode home in Joe’s van, Justin was thinking about his response to the post-it note.  Maybe he shouldn’t have made that suggestion.  He didn’t know how ad campaigns came about, but he supposed you couldn’t just choose a product and get to do that campaign.  BK would probably think he was an idiot for proposing such a thing.  No more Mr. Quick Wit.  He had probably made a fool of himself and he would never get another note from BK.  He heaved a weary sigh.

“Tired?” Joe asked as they turned into Justin’s street.

“Yeah, and I’m a stupid fool.”

“What?  What are you talking about?  You’re not stupid, and don’t ever let me hear you say that again.  You’re smart and talented.  Remember that.”

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better,” Justin said softly, “but I am stupid.”

“Don’t say that, Justin.  I’ve had a lot of guys work for me over the years.  You’re smarter than all of them put together, and you know how to work.  You’re a good person.  Don’t get down on yourself.  And that’s an order.”

“Yes, sir,” Justin said suddenly feeling a little better because of Joe’s fierce defense of him.  He needed somebody to stand up for him.  Today had been full of highs and lows.  What difference did it make if BK thought he was dumb?  He had never met the person and his opinion didn’t really matter.  It was just that Justin had enjoyed playing the note game with the man … or woman.  It had been fun and challenging, something out of the ordinary in the mundane routine of his life.  He had liked it, and he would be sorry to see it end.

“I’ll talk to Lydia tonight about coming to PIFA to see your work.  What days would work best?” Joe asked.

“Probably Thursday would be the best … around lunchtime, and I’ll treat you to lunch in the cafeteria.  It’s nothing like Lydia’s food, but it’s not too bad,” Justin replied.

“You don’t have to treat us,” Joe protested.

“I know I don’t, but I want to.  So let me know if Thursday works,” Justin said as they pulled up in front of his building.

“I will.  Goodnight, Justin.”

“Night, Joe, see you Wednesday night.”

Joe nodded before he drove away.

Justin started his long journey up the stairs to his tiny apartment.  Someday he would live in a nice building with an elevator and a huge shower … like the one in Brian’s apartment.  Justin wished things would stop making him think about Brian.  There had been no sign of the man since their night together.  He hadn’t asked for Justin’s address or his phone number.  He wasn’t interested in anything more than their one night together.  He was making that clear by his absence.  Emmett had warned him about Brian’s one time only policy.  He should know better.

But how did you stop your heart and your body and your brain from wanting something.  If he could find the answer to that, he would be rich and famous … like Brian.

Shit!!!

*****

Brian checked the boards when he got into Kinnetik on Tuesday morning.  He noticed the post-it in a new location and went to retrieve it.  He read:

Are you the person who wears Baldessarini?  I love that scent.  You should do an ad campaign for it.

The handwriting was the same as always, but the message troubled him.  Whoever wrote that wasn’t familiar with how advertising worked.  That made it unlikely that it was someone who worked at Kinnetik.  Who was getting into Kinnetik to leave these messages?

And how the fuck did someone know about the Baldessarini cologne that he wore?  Had he met this person somewhere?

Brian found this whole thing more and more disturbing.  Something had to be done.

“Cynthia, come in here,” Brian said into his phone.

“Yes, Boss?” Cynthia asked as she entered the office.  Something wasn’t right in Brian’s tone.

“Find out all the people who have access to this place – from couriers to repairmen to cleaners.  Check over the last two weeks, and I do mean, include everybody.  I want a comprehensive list of who they are and when they were in here.  Understood?”

“Yes,” Cynthia said with a frown.  “What’s happened?”

“Whoever has been leaving the post-its on the boards has to be someone that doesn’t work here,” Brian stated tersely.

“Um, how do you know that?”

“Suffice it to say that I know.”

“Okaaay, but … you think it’s somebody who is getting in here from time to time?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s not … good,” Cynthia said.

“It’s fucking unacceptable!”

“Okay, I’ll get right on it.”  She quickly left the office.

Brian sat down in his chair.  He did not like this situation at all.  Something was really amiss.  He thought about the note.  He wondered if he should respond to it.

For several minutes Brian sat and pondered what he might say in reply to the note.  Finally he decided he would reply.  This might be the way to find out what was going on.  He took a post-it and began to write.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 13





Brian wrote as small as he could to make all his words fit on the small post-it note.  He managed to squeeze it all on.  He sat back and read what he had written.  It was way too long and complicated.  It needed to be short and to the point.  This one stank, like all the other ones he had written.  He crushed the note in his hand and added it to the pile of crumpled up post-it notes on his desk.

He had spent the last half hour trying to find just the right wording for his message to the unknown advertising genius.  So far it was not going well.  Usually words were his friend, but not today.  He wanted to get this just right.  Some of his notes had sounded too sarcastic.  Others were cloying.  He needed to find just the right balance.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes trying to figure out exactly what to say.  He wanted to keep this person communicating through the notes until he could figure out who it was.  He didn’t want to scare him off by being too pushy or too abrupt.  He didn’t want to sound insincere.  There had to be something he could say that would strike a happy medium.

After a few minutes, Brian decided to try again.  He took another post-it and wrote:

Baldessarini is a great scent.  What catch phrase would you use to advertise it?  BK

Brian read and reread what he had written.  He liked it.  It was definitely the best thing he had written so far.  It asked whoever this unknown person was to use his brain.  It didn’t demean the guy by pointing out that you didn’t just pick a product and do the advertising for it.  And it asked for a reply.  All these things were positives in the quest to try to discover who was doing this.

Brian gathered up all the failed attempts at a note and dropped them into the wastebasket beside his desk.  He took the post-it over to the boards and stuck it in a new spot on one of them.  Now all he had to do was wait for a reply.

*****

Justin finished up his last session at Club Emvic.  He was really tired but no one in the audience was aware of that.  Justin always gave all he had to his act.  It was part of his “being proud of what he did” philosophy.  To do less than his best would be a discredit to the club and to himself.  He refused to do that.

When Justin had changed into his street clothes, he went to Emmett and Vic’s office.  He always got paid on Tuesdays.  Weekends were when the club was always the fullest, and those were the nights that Club Emvic made its profits.  By Tuesday the club's finances were in order and paychecks had been cut.

“Come in, Justin,” Emmett said.  He and Vic were in the office dispensing checks to the acts that worked on Tuesday.

“We had a pretty good crowd tonight,” Justin said as he sat down.

“Yeah, it’s always a bigger crowd when you perform,” Vic stated.

“Really?”

“Mondays and Wednesdays are pretty dead,” Emmett supplied.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“So are we,” Emmett said making a face.  “Actually, we were wondering if you might like to dance every night.”

“Every night?”

“Yes, you’re our star attraction.  You bring in more customers than anybody else.  We could use the business every night, not just some nights.”

“I … I don’t know what to say.  I have another job on the nights I’m not here.  I don’t think I can fit any more into my life right now,” Justin explained.

“I thought you’d probably say that,” Vic said.  “It was worth a shot to ask.”

“I’m flattered that you want me, but it’s tiring dancing, and I have school to think about.  I’m spread pretty thin already,” Justin added.

“We understand,” Emmett sighed.  “We’re just trying to increase business.”

“I thought there were more people coming in lately,” Justin said uncertainly.  It sounded like the club might be in trouble.

“Business has gone up a bit.  We’ve started to advertise in the gay papers on Liberty.  That seems to be helping a bit,” Vic told Justin.

“Brian suggested that, and a couple of other things we’re considering doing,” Emmett commented.

“Brian?” Justin asked, his ears perking up at the mention of the man.  “Why is he giving you business suggestions?”

“He’s very business savvy, and he runs an ad agency.”

Justin flinched.  It couldn’t be, could it?  It would be just too weird and too much of a coincidence.  It wasn’t possible, was it?  “Um, I have to go,” Justin said standing up quickly.  He needed to get out of there.  He needed to think.  He grabbed his check from the desk.

“See you Thursday night,” Vic called to him as he hurried out of the office.

Justin ran out of the building heading for his bus stop.  His heart was pounding and his breathing was raspy.  Could his Brian be the person whose ad agency he worked in with Joe?  The initials on all his notes had been BK.  The B could stand for Brian.  But it could also stand for a lot of other names.  He had never asked what Brian’s last name was.  He should have asked Emmett, but he just had to get out of that office.  He needed to think, to figure out what to do.

The bus pulled up at his stop.  He got on and collapsed into a seat.  His mind was in turmoil as he rode back to his little apartment.

*****

When Brian arrived at Kinnetik the next day, Cynthia handed him a list of all the people who had been to Kinnetik over the last two months.  Brian glanced at it as he went into his office.  It wasn’t a long list, but there were two names that appeared again and again.  The cleaning service and a courier service.  The courier service was at Kinnetik almost every day.  They were either picking up deliveries or dropping things off.  Brian wondered if the courier would have time to pop into his office and place the post-it note.  It didn’t seem likely, especially if the person needed to study the advertising boards before making suggestions.

The cleaning service came every Monday, Wednesday and Friday late at night.  That had been an economy that Brian had decided on when they first got Kinnetik up and running.  They had left it that way because the service did such a good job that having them come every other day seemed good enough.  They would be alone in the building for several hours each night.

Brian sat down in his chair as he thought about the cleaning service.  It must be them, someone who came to work at Kinnetik on a regular basis, and someone who would be alone in his office long enough to read the notes and compose responses.

Brian’s brow furrowed.  He got up from his chair and went to look at the Eyeconics boards.  Tomorrow they would be replaced with the new Blush campaign.  His note was still attached to the board.  It hadn’t been answered.

Thinking back to the other notes, Brian was pretty sure that they had come every other day.  There was never an answer immediately.  That had puzzled him.  And now, knowing that the cleaning service was there every other day, it started to make sense.  Tomorrow he should have a reply to his note.  Then he would know for sure.

*****

Justin reported to his job with Joe right on time.  He was a little apprehensive about going back to the advertising company.  However, everything seemed to be the same as always, as he went about his tasks.  He and Joe met in the break room as they usually did.  Lydia had made cream of broccoli soup which was delicious.  They ate in silence until they finished the soup.

As Joe took out the sandwich he said to Justin, “Lydia’s good for tomorrow.”

“Huh?” Justin responded.

“To come to PIFA?”  Joe looked at Justin wondering at the rather strange reply to his statement.  “Unless you’ve changed your mind,” Joe added.

“No, no,” Justin said.  “I really want to meet Lydia, and I think you’ll enjoy seeing where I go to school.”

“I think we will too, but you seem a little distracted tonight.”

“Maybe a little,” Justin admitted.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing I can really explain.”

“Maybe Lydia and I will be able to cheer you up tomorrow,” Joe suggested.

“That would be good,” Justin said with some sadness in his voice.  He felt like his safe little world, as ugly as it could sometimes be, was changing.  He wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

He cleaned up after they were finished eating.  Then with some trepidation he went into the main office.  He glanced at the boards.  It looked like there was a new post-it note, but he had told himself that from now on he was going to ignore them.  He would stop playing the game and be happy with what he had.  He couldn’t risk being found out, and he didn’t want Joe to get into trouble.

Justin finished his cleaning ending with dusting the big desk.  He had denied himself a sniff of the Baldessarini cologne.  He was going to cut himself off from contact with whoever was leaving the notes, especially if that might turn out to be his Brian.

When he was finished with the desk, Joe still hadn’t called for him.  He couldn’t resist going over to read the note.  He was being asked for a slogan of some sort for the cologne.  It didn’t contain any negative or threatening comments.  Justin reconsidered answering it.  He had thought about how he would advertise Baldessarini.  He wanted to answer but he knew it was better if he didn’t.

He turned away as he heard Joe bringing the big polisher to the front foyer.  It was time to go.  He looked longingly at the note, but left it where it was and went to find Joe.

*****

When Brian entered his office, the first thing he did was to look at the boards for the post-it note he had left there.  He frowned when he noted that it seemed to be in the same place he had put it.  He dropped his briefcase by the desk and walked over to the boards.  It was his note.  There was no reply.  He scanned the other boards just to be sure, but he knew that his note had not been answered as he had predicted it would be.

Could he have been totally wrong about the cleaning service?  He glanced into his wastebasket and found it empty.  All the post-its he had written and discarded were gone.  The cleaners had been there.

So what had happened?  Why was there no answer to his question on the note?  He sat down heavily in his chair.  He had been so sure he had figured it out.  But it looked like he was entirely wrong.  He closed his eyes and tried to think of what he might have missed.

*****

Justin rushed out of his lecture and down to the parking area outside PIFA.  He saw Joe and a tall black woman standing beside Joe’s van.  That had to be Lydia.  She stood proudly beside her husband.  She was beautiful.

“Hey,” he said in greeting.

“Justin, I’d like you to meet my beautiful and talented wife, Lydia,” Joe said with obvious pride in his voice.

“Lydia,” Justin said holding out his hand.  She took it and held it gently as she looked into Justin’s eyes.  He felt a lump expand in his throat, and he cleared it with a little cough.  It was a mother’s touch.  He had not felt that in a very long time.  “I … I’m so happy to meet you.  I’ve enjoyed your soups and sandwiches immensely.  You and Joe have been so kind to me.”

“It was our pleasure,” Lydia said as she finally released his hand.  “We can’t wait to have you show us around.”

“That will be my pleasure,” Justin replied offering her his arm.

They strolled through the campus while Justin pointed out the various buildings.  Justin decided they should go for lunch before he took them to his space to see his latest painting, the one he was so proud of.

They enjoyed soup and wraps at the cafeteria, and Justin insisted on paying.  When Joe protested, Lydia placed her hand on his arm and looked into his eyes.  Joe said nothing more about paying for lunch.  He understood that it would be an insult to their host to insist upon paying.

As they ate, Lydia asked, “Justin, where is your family?”

Justin blanched.  He couldn’t refuse to answer, but he wasn’t sure how much he wanted to reveal.  After a minute he said, “We’re … estranged.  I haven’t seen them in almost a year.”

“That’s terrible,” Lydia said with a sad look in her eye.  “I hope that isn’t your choice.  Family is very important.”

Justin shook his head.  “I miss my family so much,” he managed to get out in a strangled voice.

Lydia waited while he composed himself.  “It must have been very hard for you.  What happened?”

“It’s a long story,” Justin said not sure he wanted to get into it.

“We have all afternoon,” Lydia said gently.  “It might help to talk about it.”

Justin studied her beautiful, kind face.  If he could tell anybody it would be her.  He took a deep breath and began.  “I lived in the suburbs with my mother, father and sister.  People would say we had it all.  Everything was great until I began to realize that I was gay.  I tried to tell my mother a couple of times, but she didn’t want to hear it.  She’d change the subject or start talking about phases if I said anything related to being gay.  Finally I just stopped trying to tell her.”

“What about your dad?” Joe asked.

“I knew he would be disappointed in me, so I didn’t want to tell him.  What I didn’t know or expect was that he would be furious with me.  He … hates me,” Justin said choking on the words.

“That can’t be,” Lydia said gently patting his hand across the table.

“He does.  He told me as much,” Justin stated looking into her kind eyes.

“How could a father say such a thing?” Joe asked.  Lydia merely shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

“It was the night of my senior prom in high school.  That’s when everything came to a head.  My mother had arranged for me to take a girl from down the street to the prom, since I didn’t have a girlfriend of my own.  She could never understand why, since I was so handsome in her eyes.  And since she chose not to deal with my sexuality.”

“She just couldn’t face the prospect of you being gay,” Lydia supplied.

Justin nodded.  “I had been seeing this guy in school.  He was the captain of the football team, so we had to be real careful.  His teammates would have had a fit if they knew he had homosexual tendencies.  He even taunted and teased me in public to hide what we did in private.  We were just experimenting, finding our way.  It mostly consisted of kissing and jerking each other off.”  Justin blushed as he looked up at Lydia.  “I’m sorry if this is too much information.”

“It’s fine,” Lydia said.  “You need to get it all out.”

Justin swallowed, another lump forming in his throat.  “The night of the prom I slipped away from my ‘date’ and met Chris, Chris Hobbs was his name, in the restroom.  We were kissing when his teammates came looking for him.  They saw us, and one guy went ballistic.  He started screaming about fucking fags, and how they couldn’t stand them, and they should beat the shit out of both of us.

“Chris got really mad.  He told them to fuck off and took a swing at the loudmouth.  They all pounced on him beating him so bad.  I tried to pull some of them off but somebody swung at me and I fell over backwards.  I must have hit my head when I fell.  The next thing I knew the principal was standing over me.  He was trying to get me to wake up.

“When I regained my senses I asked about Chris.  Nobody would tell me anything.  Then the paramedics came.  They wouldn’t let me get up.  They strapped me onto a gurney and took me out.  I saw Chris still lying on the floor.  I couldn’t do anything to help him.”  Justin’s voice broke as he remembered that terrible night.

“But you recovered,” Joe said.  “You’re strong.”

“I was in the hospital for a couple of days.  I had a concussion.  I kept asking about Chris, and finally they told me that he was dead.  His teammates had smashed his head against the restroom floor.  And … he died.”

“What about your parents?” Lydia asked.

“My mother came every day, but now everybody knew I was gay.  I asked about my father and she would put me off.  I knew he must be mad at me.  He hated his private business being public knowledge.  I had let him down.  The day I was to be released from the hospital, both my parents came to my room.  I was relieved to see my father … finally.  But then he started talking.  He said he wanted me to make a decision that would affect the rest of my life.  He would pay for the hospital, and I could come home … if I agreed never to be with another boy.  He would not have the family further disgraced by my perversions.  I would have to be normal.  He seemed to think I could just change what I was.  I told him I couldn’t promise that.  He was carrying a duffel bag and he set it on the bed telling me I could do what he asked or I could take the bag containing a few clothes and he would never see me again.

“I told him I couldn’t do what he wanted, that it would be denying who I was.  His eyes filled with anger and hate.  He said he would not have a son who was a pervert.  He would rather have no son at all than a son who was a faggot.  He would never speak of me again, and I should never try to contact them.  I ceased to exist for him at that moment.”

“And your mother?” Lydia asked softly.

“She looked sad, but she wouldn’t contradict him.  She walked away with him.  From that moment on I was on my own.”

“And you’ve managed to build a life for yourself,” Lydia assured him even though he shook his head.  He wanted to tell her that it wasn’t much of a life.  “Let’s go see your wonderful painting,” she suggested.  That was one way to lighten the mood.  They all needed time to digest what had just happened.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 14




Brian studied the sheet in front of him.  He had gone over the list of people who had access to Kinnetik, and then he went over it again and again.  It didn’t matter how many times he looked for someone who could have left the notes on the boards, there was no other likely suspect than the cleaners.  It had to be them.

He wanted to know how someone cleaning his office had the ability to come up with such savvy advertising ideas.  And since they did, why were they cleaning his office?  They should be working in an advertising firm.  He’d hire them.  He had offered to.

But why had they suddenly decided not to answer his notes?  He had been getting an answer every other day, finding a response after the night that the cleaners were in.  What was different this time?  Why was there no response?  He was truly puzzled.  And he wanted answers.

There had to be something he could do.

*****

Justin pulled his painting from his storage area and set it up on an easel.  Lydia and Joe stood with their backs to him waiting until he was ready for them to turn around and see his painting.  He wanted to experience their reaction when they first saw it.  He hoped they would love it as much as he did.

He adjusted the painting just a bit so that it was centered on the easel.  “Ready,” he said.

Joe and Lydia turned around and stared at the painting.  Justin watched their faces hoping for wide smiles of approval.  He didn’t get any sign at all.  They stood silently studying the painting, making no comment.  Justin felt his heart drop when neither of them spoke.  He didn’t want gushing praise, although that would have been nice.  He just wanted them to like his work, hopefully almost as much as he did.  That didn’t seem about to happen.

He was about to grab the painting and stick it back in his storage space.  He couldn’t stand the thought of their disapproval of a painting that meant so much to him.  Worse would have been their lukewarm reception of it.  He knew abstract works weren’t everybody’s cup of tea.

Lydia started walking towards the painting before Justin could act.  Joe followed her, neither of them saying anything.  Justin hesitated as he wondered if they would finally make a comment.  Lydia studied the painting closely, and Justin’s heart sank.  She must be looking for something innocuous to say about it, Justin concluded.  She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t do that.

“Justin, Justin, Justin,” Lydia finally said, speaking slowly and shaking her head as she kept her eyes fixed on the painting.

“You … you don’t like it,” Justin said sadly.

“What?” Lydia said.  “I love it.  I’ve just been searching for the right words to tell you how much, and I still haven’t found them.”

Justin’s face lit up like a burst of sunshine.  “You like it, you really like it?” he asked wanting to be reassured.

“It’s so powerful,” Joe said.  “It hits you like a wave of emotion.”

Justin looked to Lydia for further comments.

“Justin, you are very talented.  You should be so proud of this piece.  It’s magnificent!” Lydia said.

“Th…Thank you,” Justin said humbly.  His heart felt like it was about to burst as he took in Lydia’s wonderful words.

“We should be thanking you for making something so striking,” Lydia replied.

“I’m just glad you like it.”

“Joe told me about your young man.  Is that him at the core of your painting?”  Lydia pointed to the abstract representation of Brian that Justin had been sure no one would recognize.

“Yea … yes,” Justin said.  “I can’t believe you noticed that.”

Joe smiled at them both.  “My Lydia is one smart lady,” he said proudly.

“She certainly is,” Justin agreed immediately.

“I’d like to meet this man who can create such an impact,” Lydia told Justin.

“He’s not really my young man,” Justin said shyly.  “I haven’t seen him since that one night we spent together.”

“Then that’s his loss.”

“I wish it was,” Justin said, his voice soft and sad.

“If you want to see him,” Lydia stated, “then why don’t you?”

“I guess he didn’t like me as much as I liked him,” Justin conceded.

“Maybe he did, and he’s just as scared as you are to pursue it.”

Justin stared into her eyes.  Could that possibly be true?  Could Brian be worried about how Justin would react if he contacted him again?  No, Brian was Mr. Confidence.  He wouldn’t worry about what any of his tricks thought.  Emmett had said that Brian had a one time only policy.  That was all he had been – a one night stand.

“I don’t think that’s likely,” Justin said after a moment or two.  “He just didn’t like me enough to want to see me again.”

“Then he’s an idiot.  Don’t give him another thought,” Lydia declared.  She pulled Justin into a hug.

“Isn’t she a little old for you, Taylor,” Mark Botelli said with his usual smirk.  He had come into the space just in time to witness Lydia’s warm hug.

“Shut up, Botelli,” Justin reacted.

“Just saying,” Mark added continuing his smirk.

“Young man, are you a student here?” Lydia asked.  She had placed a hand on her husband’s chest as he attempted to get past her and confront the insolent young man.  Joe immediately relaxed understanding that his wife wished to handle this.  Lydia could hold her own with anyone.

“Yes I am,” Mark replied.

“Your parents must be paying a lot of money to send you to this fine institution.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure they’d be very proud of how you insulted someone of their age.  Maybe I should speak to the dean of the college who could inform them of your less than stellar manners.”

Mark made a face.  He realized from the look in Lydia’s eye that she just might do what she had threatened.  He was already in his parents’ bad books for ditching a couple of classes that he didn’t like.  He decided he better amend his statements.  “I apologize if I offended anyone.”

“You offended me, and I daresay Justin as well,” Lydia informed him.

“Sorry,” Mark said sheepishly.

Lydia looked into the young man’s eyes and saw that he really was sorry, probably more sorry about getting himself into trouble than for what he actually said.  “Apology accepted,” Lydia stated, “but I hope you will learn from this incident that not everyone will take your words and say nothing.  You will get a lot farther in life if you hold that sharp tongue of yours.”

“I know, I know,” Mark mumbled shaking his head.  “I’ve always had a big mouth ever since I was a kid.”

“But you are an adult now,” Joe said, speaking for the first time.  “You should act like an adult.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” Mark conceded.

“You should see Mark’s painting if he’ll show it to you,” Justin suggested.  “It’s almost as good as mine.”  Justin grinned at the embarrassed young man.

Mark looked like he had a sharp retort on his lips, but he didn’t say it.  He grinned back at Justin instead.  “I’d love to show you my work,” he said genuinely.

“Then we’d love to see it,” Lydia agreed, a smile covering her beautiful face.

They spent the next few minutes discussing Mark’s painting.  Lydia and Joe had some complimentary things to say about Mark’s work, but their praise didn’t come close to what they had said about Justin’s.  Justin couldn’t help but feel proud.

“You make some excellent comments,” Mark said to Lydia.  “You sound like an art critic.”

Lydia chuckled.  “I guess it’s all those gallery shows and lectures and reading that I do.  I love art, and you certainly have talent, young man.”

“Thank you, thank you so much, Mrs. …”

“Mrs. Stewart, but you may call me Lydia.  Everyone calls me Lydia.”

“Well, thank you, Lydia,” Mark said sincerely.  He shook Lydia’s hand gently.

“Welcome,” was all she said.

*****

Brian leaned his head against the wall and let his mouth fall open slightly.  The guy sucking his dick wasn’t bad.  Brian was close and he wanted to enjoy the last seconds before this was over.  He let out a slight groan as the guy did something with his tongue – something unexpected.  That just about finished it.  Brian took a breath and hung on as the guy tried to swallow his full length.  With a final suck on the tip of his cock, the trick looked up at him.  Brian was oblivious to the man.  All he wanted was the release that was so close.

He grabbed the guy’s hair forcing his dick deep into the man’s mouth.  The guy swallowed around him and Brian felt his orgasm explode.  He leaned against the wall as the ripples of pleasure washed over him.

The man released his cock and Brian stood up away from the wall.  He buttoned his jeans as the world settled back into its normal routine.  He hardly heard the grunts and moans that filled the back room of Babylon.

His trick stood up and licked his lips.  “You taste good,” he said.

“Yeah, so I’ve been told,” Brian replied before pushing past the guy and heading for the bar.

“Hey!” the man called after him.  “Don’t you want my number?”

“No thanks,” Brian said as he left the room.

“You really are a bastard,” Emmett Honeycutt said as he met Brian outside the back room, having heard the last bit of Brian’s exchange with his trick.

“Yeah, so everyone likes to tell me.”

“Don’t you ever want their number?”

“No.”  Brian kept heading towards the bar pushing his way through the Friday night crowd at Babylon.  Emmett trailed along behind him.  “What the fuck are you doing here anyway?”

“Checking out the competition.”

“And picking up a guy?”

Emmett made a face.  “So I haven’t found anyone yet – neither have you.”

“Not looking!” Brian stated tersely, although for some unknown reason his mind had immediately gone to the Dumb Blond.  “Beam,” Brian ordered from the bartender.

“Cosmo,” Emmett said.  “Maybe it’s time to settle down,” he suggested as much for himself as for Brian.

“No thanks.”

“I, um, thought you might be interested in our little blond dancer,” Emmett continued waiting to gauge Brian’s reaction to that statement.

“Been there, done that,” Brian said a little more harshly than he intended.  He didn’t like anyone, including Emmett Honeycutt, butting into his private life.

“Vic and I think Justin’s pretty special.”

“So now you use his name,” Brian retorted remembering when neither man would tell him much about the blond dancer.  He downed his drink and nodded at the bartender to bring another.

“And you managed to find out his name,” Emmett commented, “and remember it.”  Brian was notorious for never remembering anyone’s name, especially tricks.

Brian shrugged.  “Don’t you have a club to manage?” he asked.

“Vic’s keeping an eye on things tonight.”

“Well I’m glad somebody is.”

“Brian,” Emmett said hesitantly, “thanks for your suggestions.  Business is starting to pick up a bit at the club.”

“Good.  Gotta go,” Brian stated polishing off his second drink.

Emmett watched his friend walk away, knowing that Brian had decided he had heard enough.  Brian wasn’t one who liked to be thanked publicly for his help.  But somehow Emmett suspected that the thank you meant quite a bit to Brian even if he didn’t show it.

*****

Outside the club, Brian wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next.  He couldn’t go back in, and he hadn’t seen anyone worthy of taking home with him.  There was always the baths, but they usually were full of trolls, and Brian didn’t feel like an orgy tonight.  He wasn’t sure what he felt like.  Maybe going home was best after all.

Brian shook his head at his own folly.  He really did sound like he was ready to settle down, even to himself.  Drawing in a breath, Brian had a sudden inspiration.  Home was good, but partying was better.  He could use that with the Blush campaign.  Subtle makeup for home, and wild party makeup for a night on the town.  He would show the contrast in the ads, how Blush cosmetics could do both. He decided he would go back to the office and get his ideas fleshed out for Monday.  He quickly walked to his Jeep.

*****

When Brian pulled into the parking area at Kinnetik, he noticed the van that was parked in his space.  It was the cleaners.  He immediately wondered why he hadn’t thought of confronting them before.  He glanced at the clock in the Jeep.  It was almost three in the morning.  They would be finishing up.  Brian wondered who he might find in his office where the boards were still on display.  Would there be a new message?  Maybe he could catch somebody in the act of leaving the message.

He got out of his Jeep and headed for the front door.  He used his key as quietly as he could to unlock the door.  He stepped inside and gently closed the door behind him.  It was quiet inside Kinnetik, but the lights were on.  The cleaners must be working somewhere in the building.

Brian walked to his office.  The door was open and he heard some movement from inside.  He stopped and listened for a moment.  It sounded like things were being moved around on his desk.  When that noise stopped he waited a beat and then stepped into the office.

His breath caught in his throat as he saw someone studying the boards on the easels.

“Justin!” he said softly.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 15



Justin whirled around at the sound of his name spoken by a voice that he was sure he would never forget.

“B…Brian,” he stammered.

“I should have known,” Brian said shaking his head at this strange turn of events.

“Should have known what?”

“That it was you.”

“How…How could you possibly know it was me?”

Brian stared into the blue eyes that looked full of worry and fright.  “It doesn’t matter,” Brian said slowly.  “You work as a cleaner?  I thought you were an exotic dancer.”

“You mean a stripper,” Justin said his voice revealing some distaste about the job he had chosen in order to survive and pursue his art.

“I thought you were proud of the job you did,” Brian reminded him.

“I am,” Justin said defiantly.  “I’m proud of everything I do, and I do it to the best of my ability.”

“The cleanliness of my office speaks to that fact.”

“Joe would be pleased to hear that.”

“Joe?” Brian asked raising an eyebrow.

“My boss.  He’s finishing up at the back,” Justin explained.  The whine of the floor polisher took that moment to stop.  “He’ll be out here in a minute.”

“Justin … I think we need to talk.”

“Um…”

“Justin, you finished…?”  Joe did not complete his question as he saw the man who was standing in the office with his employee.  He wasn’t sure what was going on.  “How did you get in here?  I’m sure I locked the door.”

“You did.  I’m Brian Kinney, the owner of this company.”

“Oh!” Joe said startled at this revelation.  “I’m Joe Stewart.  I run the cleaning company.  Is there some kind of problem?”  Joe looked very worried as he glanced between Brian and Justin trying to determine what kind of trouble he might be facing.

“No, no problem,” Brian said looking to Justin for some indication of what he should say.

“Joe, this is … my Brian,” Justin said hesitantly.

“Your Brian?  Oh!”  The light had dawned.

“Um, if you’re ready to go,” Justin began, “you can take the polisher to the van, and I’ll be there in just a minute.”

“You sure?” Joe asked not wanting to leave Justin alone with this man unless that was what Justin wanted.

“I’m sure.  I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Joe agreed.  He turned and left the office.  They could hear him opening the front door of Kinnetik and dragging the big polisher out.

“Explain!” Brian ordered.

“I don’t have anything to explain, and I certainly don’t have to explain myself to you,” Justin stated emphatically.

Slowly a smile turned up the corners of Brian’s mouth.  This was the proud, unapologetic Justin that he had come to … know.  “You’re right.  You don’t have to explain, but why did you stop answering my notes?  I’d like to know.”

“I talked to Emmett a few nights ago and he said you ran an ad agency.  I had this sudden feeling that I was communicating with you, and it …scared me.  Plus, I didn’t want to get Joe into trouble.  He had no idea I was leaving notes.  I need this job, and so does Joe.”

“You have nothing to worry about for Joe or yourself,” Brian said genuinely.

“Thanks, that’s good.”

“Could we go somewhere and … talk?” Brian asked.  He wanted some other things clarified where Justin was concerned.

“Talk?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, just talk.  I have a lot of questions.”

“So do I.”

“Such as…?” Brian asked with a frown.

“Why are you interested now when you weren’t interested enough to contact me after … our night together.”

Brian made a face.  “I just wasn’t sure…”

“Sure of what?”

“Sure that I should.  Why didn’t you contact me?”

“I hardly knew you, and Emmett had told me…”

“Fuck Emmett!”

“He was just looking out for me.”

“Yeah, right!”

“You have everything, Brian.  I couldn’t imagine that you were interested in me.  I’m a cleaner and a stripper.  You have money and a beautiful loft and … friends.”

“Such as they are.”

“They care about you.”

“And about you apparently.”

“Justin!” Joe called.  “Everything all right?”

“I gotta go,” Justin said to Brian.  “Coming, Joe.”

“Justin, please…” Brian asked.  He knew it sounded like begging but he couldn’t help himself.

“Joe gives me a ride home,” Justin explained as he scooped up his cleaning supplies.

“I could drive you home.”

“You could?”  Justin seemed surprised by the offer.

“Sure.”

“Um … wait a minute,” Justin said to Brian.  He carried his cleaning kit out to Joe.  “I’m going to talk to Brian,” he said softly to Joe.  “He’ll take me home.”

“Are you sure?” Joe asked, obviously concerned for Justin’s well being.  He took the cleaning supplies from Justin.

“I’m sure.  I need to do this.”

Joe nodded.  “Mr. Kinney, make sure our Justin gets home safe,” he called out.

“I will,” Brian responded.

Justin smiled as Joe exited the building.  It was nice having Joe and Lydia being so protective of him.  Without his family in his life, it had been a long time since he felt like anyone really cared about his safety and well being.

“So, where do you want to talk?” Justin asked as he reappeared at the office door.

“We could go to the loft.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Brian looked into the clear blue eyes.  “Okay,” he conceded.  “What’s wrong with here?”

“Nothing,” Justin said looking around.  “You have a beautiful office.”

“I like it,” Brian said.  “Want a drink?”

“Sure.”

Brian went to the cabinet that housed his liquor supply for when clients wanted a drink.  It also provided relief for him when the day had been a particularly trying one.  “Vodka okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Have a seat.”

Justin sat down on the sofa while Brian got their drinks ready.  He took a deep breath as he waited.  He didn’t know where this was going, but he couldn’t deny the little kernel of hope that was growing inside him.

Brian handed Justin a glass and sat down beside him.  Brian knew he was never much good at talking, so this was going to be a big challenge.  He would probably screw it up, but he knew he had to try.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Justin asked taking a sip of his drink.

Brian turned toward him and spoke with sincerity.  “I want you to come work for Kinnetik.  You have great advertising ideas, a special way with words and an excellent eye for color.  You’re wasting your time at Club Emvic and cleaning offices.”

Justin felt a little smile play at the corners of his mouth.  He was pleased that Brian didn’t call what he did at the club stripping.  Somehow that made it seem better.  He also loved that Brian thought he was smart and creative.  “How do you know that slogan wasn’t just a … fluke?” he asked.

Brian laughed.  “See, now that was clever.  You just proved my point.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’m cut out for advertising.”

“I think you are, or you could be.”

“Brian, you don’t know anything about me,” Justin protested.

“Then why don’t you tell me?  We said we were going to talk.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Why are you dancing some nights and cleaning my office other nights?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time, and tomorrow is Saturday.  Do you have somewhere to be?”

Justin shook his head.  “You know, this office is much nicer than my apartment.”

Brian chuckled.  “Thanks, but that doesn’t tell me much about you other than that you have a less than stellar apartment.”

“Less than stellar,” Justin repeated shaking his head.  “My apartment is a piece of shit.”

“Then move.”

“It’s all I can afford.”

“Then come work for me, and I’ll make sure that you have a better apartment.”

“If I came to work for you, you’d have to make sure I had an apartment like your loft,” Justin countered with a grin.

“Hey, I’m the boss.  You don’t get an apartment like mine for at least a week or two.”

They both laughed at that and took another sip of their drinks.

“Justin, enough fooling around.  Tell me about your situation.  I want to understand.”

“It’s not a pretty story.  Are you sure you want to hear it?”  Brian nodded.  Justin took another deep breath and proceeded to tell Brian much the same story that he had told Lydia and Joe the day before.  “I can’t believe I’ve revisited those horrible events for the second time in two days,” Justin said with tears in his eyes, and looking worn out when he finally finished.  It still hurt a lot to talk about those events.

Brian did not say anything as he stood up, took Justin’s glass and went to pour them each another drink.  That gave Justin a few moments to compose himself.  He looked better when Brian came back.

“Your parents should be shot,” Brian said as he sat down.

“They were great when I was growing up.”

“Wish I could say the same,” Brian observed as he took a drink from his glass.

“Your parents weren’t … nice?”

Brian snorted.  “My father was an electrical worker who drank too much and liked to belt me around.  My mother is a frigid bitch who only sees the worst in me.”

“Wow!  I would have thought you grew up with money.”

“I put on a good façade.”

“You sure do.”

“It took me a long time to create what I am.”

“I hope I can do that too.”

Brian snorted.  “You wouldn’t want to be me.”

“I don’t know,” Justin grinned, “I think you’re … okay.”

“Just okay?” Brian asked as he raised his eyebrow.

“I thought you were fucking fantastic the other night.”

Brian chuckled.  He could really learn to like this kid.  “So why not come and work for me?” he asked.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“I’m going to PIFA and I do that during the day.  I can’t work when I’m required in class.”

“You want to be an artist?”

“I am an artist,” Justin declared.  He was sure of that now.

“But you still have to live.”

“I am living.”

“That’s not what it sounded like to me.  From what you described, it sounds like you are barely surviving.”

“Fuck you!” Justin exclaimed.  He stood up, placed his glass gently on the table and headed for the door.

“Justin, wait!”

“Fuck you, Brian!  I’m doing just fine without your help, so, so, so just leave me alone!”

And he disappeared out the door.

Dumb Blond

Chapter 16





Brian got up off the sofa and followed Justin out to the main foyer.  He found the young man struggling to unlock the front door.  Apparently Joe had decided to lock it behind him.  Brian would have to make sure that Joe got a bonus for that.

He strode over to where Justin had finally managed to get the lock to open.  He pulled Justin’s hand away, flipped the lock back on and backed Justin up against the wall.  He pressed his body and then his lips against Justin, kissing him with all the smoldering passion he had been feeling since their first encounter.  He felt himself growing hard and Justin’s erection was already pressing against his groin.

“I want you,” Brian growled as he stepped away.  He took Justin’s hand and led him into the office where Brian began stripping off his own clothes.  “Is there a problem?” he asked when he noticed that Justin was not taking off his clothes.

“Just enjoying the view,” Justin replied with a look of lust on his face.

“I wouldn’t mind a view of my own,” Brian said as he stripped off the last of his clothes and extended his arms to show his young companion the complete package that was Brian Kinney.

“You are so full of yourself,” Justin laughed as he started to remove his clothes.

“I want you to be full of me too,” Brian whispered as his need grew with each piece of Justin’s clothing that came off.

Justin slid his jeans down his legs and turned to allow Brian the full vista of his bubble butt as he bent to pull them off his feet.

“Nice,” Brian groaned.

“What are you waiting for, Mr. Kinney?” Justin asked.

“Brian, I’m not Mr. Kinney.”

“Okay, Brian,” Justin agreed.  He wasn’t sure why he was letting this happen.  There didn’t seem to be any future for them, but it was obviously what they both wanted.  And maybe that was enough.  Maybe he’d get another great painting out of it, Justin thought.  He grinned as he turned back to face Brian.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“Just remembering the last time.”

“It was … okay, wasn’t it?”

“Spectacular!” Justin said just before Brian tackled him onto the couch.

They came together with all the heat and passion that was imaginable.  Brian knew why he had been thinking about Justin as soon as his lips met the young man’s.  His body craved the touch of Justin’s skin, the taste of his kisses, the heat of his body.

Neither of them could wait long and soon Brian was embedded to the hilt inside his lover.  And yes, Justin was his lover.  This was so different from his usual fucks.  It felt different: it was more intense, more necessary, unlike anything Brian had ever experienced before.  He would have to figure out what this was about.  But that would have to wait until … later.

Everything was touch and feel, hands and fingers, skin against skin, lips and tongue, kisses and caresses and nips and bites.  It didn’t last too long as it was far too intense to continue.  They collapsed against each other, spent and sated.

It took a few moments before either could speak.

“That was great,” Justin finally said.

“What happened to spectacular?” Brian asked as he rolled to the side to let Justin breathe more easily.  It was a tight fit for the two of them on the sofa.

Justin chuckled.  “I didn’t want to overuse the same word.”

“I wouldn’t have minded.”

Justin grinned as he looked into Brian’s eyes.  “There’s lots more words I could use.  It will be a long time before I have to repeat spectacular.”

“What’s the next best one?” Brian asked.

“Um … magnificent!”

“Then let’s try for magnificent,” Brian said as he rolled atop Justin and started round two.

*****

They worked their way through “fabulous” and “terrific” before they really took a breather.

Lying close together on the sofa all sweaty and boneless, they took some deep breaths then looked into each other’s eyes.

Justin frowned.  “Where is this going, Brian?”  He waited hoping to hear the answer he wanted.  When Brian didn’t say anything, he sighed and sat up.  “I get it,” he said as he started hunting for his clothes.  “It’s not going anywhere, so thanks for a … great fuck, but I’ll be leaving now and don’t try to stop me.”

When Justin reached for one of his socks under the edge of the sofa, Brian’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t go,” Brian said.

“Why not?  You still got another fuck in you?  I bet there are lots of willing assholes at any club.”  Justin tried to pull his hand away, but Brian refused to let go.

“Been there, done that.  It’s not what I want … now.”

“Then what do you want?”  Justin stopped struggling wanting to hear what Brian might say.

“I want…”

The long pause was killing Justin.  “Please, Brian, either let me go or tell me what you want to say.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t leave,” Brian said softly.

Justin’s face registered surprise.  “That’s it?!  You’ve got to fucking be kidding me!”

“Justin, sit down … please!”

Not sure why, Justin sat.  “You’re going to have to do better than that,” Justin stated as Brian released his arm but then pressed his body against his back.

“It might interest you to know that I’ve never told anyone that I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t leave,” Brian admitted.  He was usually happy to see his tricks disappear when they were finished.  It was a lot easier than trying to make polite conversation or dealing with needy assholes who thought the fuck was more than it really was.  But this … whatever it was, was different, and Brian knew that.  That was what he was trying to convey to Justin.  Justin was different from all the others.

“You haven’t?”  Justin could hardly believe his ears.  It was a strange admission for Brian to make.  Had he never asked anyone to stay?  If so, why was he asking Justin.  Could it mean…?

Brian shook his head.  “I never have,” he repeated.  “This is all new and uncharted territory for me.”

“Pretty much the same for me,” Justin replied.

“I … maybe we can help each other figure it out.  I don’t want to … lose you.”

Justin’s face lit up with a radiant smile.  “I can’t believe you really want me.”

“I more than want you,” Brian amended.  “I’m sick of the way my life has been.  I’m ready to start a new chapter, and I think you may be the hero of that next chapter.”

“You mean it?”

“You have no idea how hard that was for me to say.  Of course I mean it, but don’t expect me to repeat it.”

“That’s just about the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” Justin declared.

Brian let out a loud groan, making Justin giggle.  “Don’t you ever tell anyone I said that.”

“Ruin your rep, would it?”

“Unbelievably so!”

“Hm, then I guess I have a hold over you,” Justin said with an evil grin.

“In more ways than one.”

Justin smiled as Brian’s hand slid over his back.  He felt himself grow hard.  He reached down and found Brian’s burgeoning cock.  He gave it a squeeze making Brian groan.

“You are so bad,” Brian whispered.

“That’s what makes me so good,” Justin retorted.

Brian pulled Justin down beside him.  “You got that right.  Are you ready to do ‘stupendous’?”

“More than ready,” Justin said before locking lips with his lover.

*****

When they were finished once again, Brian wrapped his arms around Justin and held him tight.

“Are we cuddling?” Justin asked innocently.

“Brian Kinney does not cuddle.”

“It feels like cuddling.”

“Well it isn’t.”

“Okay, if you say so.  But I like it whatever it is.”

“So do I.  Surprisingly!”

“Brian, how is this going to work?” Justin asked, worry once again nagging at him.

“I don’t know, but if we take it one day at a time and don’t let anybody interfere, we should be able to handle it.”

“You think so?”

Brian nodded.  “We don’t even have to tell anyone just yet.  It can be our secret.”

“But I want to tell everyone,” Justin said.

“Who’s everyone?”

“Joe, and Lydia, that’s Joe’s wife.  They’ve been great to me.”

“So tell them.

“I will,” Justin said happily.  “And maybe Mark.”

“Mark?”

“Mark Botelli, he goes to PIFA.  He’s a pain in my ass.”

“Then by all means tell him.”

Justin laughed.  “I believe I will.  I love being able to gloat.”

“Aaah, a flaw in the perfection.  He loves to gloat,” Brian said like he was making a mental note.

All Justin heard was the perfection part of that statement.  It made him feel ‘spectacular’. “What are your friends going to say about this?” Justin asked.

“Do we have to tell them?”

“Of course we do.”

“Then they’re going to shit themselves.”

“Mikey included?” Justin asked wondering what Brian would say about him.

“How do you know about Mikey?”

“You got a phone call from him the first time I was with you.  You went rushing off.”

“Right,” Brian agreed remembering what had happened that night.  “Michael’s my best friend.  That was the night Ben, Michael’s partner, was taken to the hospital.  He’s HIV positive and he had a very bad reaction to his meds.”

“Oh,” Justin said suddenly feeling foolish for thinking that Michael could have been Brian’s lover.  “Was Ben okay?”

“Yeah, the doctors figured out how to get him back to normal, as normal as his life will ever be.”

“That’s good,” Justin said.  He was so glad he didn’t have to deal with something like HIV.  “What will Michael say about us?”

“Mikey will have an aneurysm.”

Justin laughed out loud.  “Can I be there when you tell him?”

“Certainly.”

“But you think we should keep this quiet for a while?”

“I do.  We don’t know how it’s going to work, so how do we explain it to someone else.”

“But we’re going to try to make it work, right?”

“I think that’s what we’ve been discussing, is it not?”

“Yeah,” Justin said as he laid his head on Brian’s chest.  “I don’t think I’ve been this happy in a long, long time.”

“I’m not sure if I’m happy or just scared shitless,” Brian admitted.

“Try for the happy part.”

“Sure,” Brian said wryly.

“You don’t sound like you believe that’s possible.”

“There’s a lot about me that you don’t know.  I’m not exactly Mr. Cheerful.”

“You seem just fine to me,” Justin replied.

“I’ve been behaving around you, trying to make a good impression.”

“You definitely made a good impression on me.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Oh, and I do love that Baldessarini cologne that you wear.  That made an impression on me too.  I used to take a sniff of it every time I cleaned your restroom.”

“Hm, but you didn’t come up with a slogan for it,” Brian reminded him.

“Oh but I did, I just didn’t tell you.  By the time I saw that note, I suspected I might be communicating with you, and I didn’t want it to go any further.  I was worried for Joe.  He needs this job.”

“I told you his job is safe, but what about your job in advertising?”

“I don’t have a job in advertising.”

“But you could if you’d accept it.”

“I told you why that’s not possible,” Justin said with a sigh.

“We could make it work, just like this … whatever this turns out to be.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“Are you always so definite?”

“Always.”

Justin chuckled.  “I guess I better get used to it then.”

“Yeah, you better,” Brian said pulling Justin closer against him.  “So, what slogan did you come up with for the Baldessarini?”

“Scent from Heaven but with a ‘c’ in scent.”

Brian chuckled.  “I love it.  See, I knew you were an advertising genius.”

“Brian, that’s not really what I want to do with my life.”

“I get that, but it could make your life a lot easier, and I’ll make sure you have hours that fit around your classes.”

“You’d do that?”

“I just said I would.”

“I could really learn to love you, Brian Kinney.”

“I thought you already did.”

“Ego, much?”

“I’ve been told it is rather large.”

“Astronomical!”

“You’re just full of big words.”

Justin laughed.  “I have another one for you.  Breathtaking!  Let’s try for that one,” he said as he rubbed himself against Brian’s cock.  It responded immediately.

“Looks like we are good to go,” Brian said rolling on top of his lover.  He was starting to like the sound of that word.